What happens when your past comes back to you? The protagonist of this short story bumps into her past after all those years ago when he mysteriously disappeared from her life. 

 

Saisha increased the pace of her stride the moment her eyes fell on Jamie. Jamie was sitting on the driver’s seat of the car, waiting for her. She noticed the restlessness and annoyance on his face. He detested being late. He was literally always the first person to reach anywhere and for anything. Saisha on the other hand, was late, for the most part. She sat herself inside the car. I’m sorry darling. I really, really am. Jamie did not quite respond in words but did so, by starting the car and driving off to their destination.
The dark clouds had overshadowed the Sunday morning sky. Saisha knew that Jamie was mad at her for being late. She did not apologize or say anything to defend herself. She sat quietly, with her eyes fixed on the window which was on her side. She began to notice droplets of water collecting on the glass of the window and in just about a few seconds it started pouring with great intensity.
The music playing on the radio filled in the silence which danced between Saisha and Jamie. Her eyes kept going back to Jamie. He never looked back. He was fully aware whenever her eyes were on him, but he never looked back. Stop looking at me like that, I’m mad at you. That was the first sentence he uttered since she sat herself inside the car. She looked away from him. She shifted her gaze to her window and smiled to herself. She did not utter another word. Saisha simply obeyed his word and they continued their car ride in muteness.
Three years, it had been three years since Saisha and Jamie were together. She accompanied Jamie to mass every Sunday, ever since. She gave up on believing in the existence of the almighty when her father passed away, a couple of years before Jamie and she were together. Jamie understood that and never forced her to come with him for mass. But after going with him for mass the one time, she liked the idea of both of them attending mass together. It sort of became a daily Sunday tradition, eventually.
Jamie parked the car in the empty space between two other cars. He got out of the car and Saisha followed. Hey, I thought you were done being mad at me. He did not respond. Hey, please wait. She caught hold of his arm. He turned himself to face her.
I’m so sorry Jamie, you know I am.
I know.
Please don’t be like this. He pulled her closer and kissed her on her forehead.
I won’t.
It’s just that…
I know, I know. I promise it won’t happen again.
I know it will.
Oh yes, it will. Jamie and Saisha broke into laughter. They held their hands and walked toward church.
Although it stopped pouring, the dark clouds continued to overshadow the sky. After mass, Jamie and Saisha got up from their seats and walked toward the gate of the church. They took a lot of detours during their journey to the gate of the church. They met a couple of people whom they knew and so, they spent some time speaking with them. James, I’ll just go meet Mel. She’s standing over there. Saisha pointed toward Mel who was standing right across them. As she walked toward Mel, she bumped into a man. When she looked up and saw who it was, she saw him standing in front of her. He looked just the same, only a little taller after all those years. The two of them just stood there looking at each other. Not saying a word. Saisha couldn’t believe that after all these years he was standing right in front of her.

 

 

Saisha was welcomed into an empty house. She called out to him, but he did not answer. She walked into the kitchen and placed the bag of groceries on the platform. She went into their bedroom, he wasn’t there. He wasn’t in the bathroom or the balcony.

Her heart started thudding hard. She removed her phone from her pants pocket and dialed his number. He did not pick up. She dialed twice, thrice, even ten times. But he did not answer her call.

She sat on the edge of their bed. It was very unusual of him to be behaving this way. They did not have a fight or an argument. Everything was more than okay between them. His disappearance seemed out of the blue and illogical.
She did not eat. She could not eat. She was too worried and scared. A day passed and then another and finally a week passed. Not a single sign of him. She called his office, but they did not know where he was. She called his friends, people whom he spoke to occasionally. Not a single soul knew where he was. She tried Facebook, email, but no luck. After yet another week and two days, she came home to a letter which was placed in the space between her safety door and the main door of their house. She hurriedly opened the envelope. She picked the piece of paper which was neatly folded and placed in the envelope with the same intensity she opened the envelope:

Hey babe,
Two weeks and two days might have passed by the time this letter would’ve reached you. I want to apologize for having disappeared on you like this. I want to also apologize for not answering your calls, replying to messages and emails. Knowing you, I know you would’ve contacted every single person on my contact list. I would’ve done the same if I were in your situation. But for these few minutes I want you to sit down and calmly read this letter.
I’m writing to tell you that I am doing okay. I’m far, far away from the world and from you. I do not know when I am going to return. Do not expect of me to return. It would be unfair to ask you to wait for me. I want you to move on with your life. Forget about me, forget that we were ever going to spend the rest of our lives together. I want you to live your life and do all things that you’ve been dreaming of doing, since forever.
I know none of my sorry’s will substitute how much I am hurting you right now. But maybe someday all this will make sense to you.

She stared hard at the piece of paper. Saisha was completely blank. She did not shed a tear or try to make sense out of what he had done or of what he had told her through the letter. She just stared hard at the piece of paper. She was partly relieved that he was doing okay. But she felt betrayed and helpless. She walked straight into their bedroom, laid down on the bed and did not wake up till the very next evening. The wedding was called off. She did not speak with anyone for weeks. She moved out of their apartment and rented it to some college students. She moved into another apartment with her best friend.

 

Saisha stood there staring at him. He stood there staring at her. It took her months, a year to move on from what he’d done. She used to cry herself to sleep some nights while some nights she wouldn’t sleep at all.

She was angry, hurt, disappointed in him. He didn’t love her. He wouldn’t have left her stranded, if he really did.

After receiving the letter from him, after all these years, he was standing in front of her eyes. She wanted to hurt him as much as he had.

Hi. She did not say anything. She was about to walk away when he held her hand.

Let go.

Can we talk?

No. He let go of her hand.

Let’s not create a scene here. I would like to speak with you privately.

I’m sorry but I do not see that happening.

Please, Saisha.

Why have you come back, really? After all these years you expect me to forgive you and take you back into my life? Do you even realize how much you’ve hurt me? You’re a selfish human being. You never cared about me or us. You’re a liar. All those times you claimed to have loved me was all a lie. And you know what, thank you so, so much for not marrying me because after you left, I fell in love with a man who is much more deserving of my love than you. And thanks to you, I found myself again. I found the self that I’d lost in all those years that I was with you.

Saisha walked away. She walked briskly out of the church. Jamie saw her walking out and ran behind her. She suddenly stopped and Jamie stopped as well. He turned her entire self to face him. Her eyes were red. A part of him died when he saw her like that. He’d never seen Saisha that way. He pulled her close and wiped the tears off, of her face.

What happened, Saish?

I bumped into him. After all these years Jamie, I bumped into him.

He pulled her and hugged her with all his strength. It’s alright. She pulled herself away from his embrace.

I’ve been scared of taking that step, of marrying you only because of him. Of course it has crossed my mind a million times, but I’m terrified. I really, really am. He pulled her and tucked her head in a tight embrace. She cried and he did not stop her from crying.

One year later, Jamie and Saisha were happily married.