Excerpt

Men don’t cry. Hell, the last time he cried was when he watched Armageddon. And that was in a large darkened hall. Nobody noticed. It would feel like a crime should he cry now. It would just be so uncharacteristic of him. It was her who’s leaving, not him. The women should be the ones with the drama, not the men. Men are supposed to be the comforting people. Saying to everybody, “Everything’s gonna be alright,”. They’re the ones to pull on an encouraging smile while the others dabble with their Kleenexes. And yet, at that moment, he felt the roles are momentarily reversed.

“You look good to go,” he says, trying to avert his thoughts elsewhere from the melodramatic one developing in his head.

“Yup,” she replied, still looking down, doing final checks through her suitcase. “You are coming, right?” as she finally looks up. Ah, those eyes. He’s going to miss those eyes. They’re so deep you can swim in them.

“To the airport, you mean? Oh yeah, sure. Wouldn’t miss it for the world. You’re the love of my life. How could I not be there to whisk my lover away?”

“Lover? Huh, right, along with all the other women you’ve been fooling around with,”

Yes, but none as special as you. Oh God, how he wish he could say that out loud!

“Well, don’t just stand there,” as she finally finished. “Be a man and help me with my luggage,”

He snapped out of his little dream and cordially obliged, as he always did since the years he’d known her. As he walked behind her it still amazes him how she maintains to look incredibly beautiful compared to the other women he had met. Of course, he couldn’t tell her. Quite simply she wouldn’t believe him. It would be more likely to be noted as a sarcastic comment coming from him. Thus, has the potential to hurt her feelings. A risk not worth taking.

As he arranged her suitcases in the car boot, he tried to look her up in the eyes and say how much he’ll miss her. But he stopped short. The words wouldn’t come out. A clumsy grin, instead, took its place. In turn, she gave a curious look. Puzzled. He pulled away.

“It would only be for two months, right?” asking the question he himself already knew the answer.

“Yes, only two months,” she replied while fiddling with her handphone.

“That shouldn’t be long, right?”

“Time flies. You said it yourself,” as she made her way to the passenger side of the car.

“Yeah,” he answered to himself softly. He recalls it. But for once, he has trouble believing his own words. “I certainly hopes so,” as the lid came down with a thud. He was already missing her.

Whoa, I am so writing a novel one day. Still needs a little more work though.