12 Unanswered (1)
Tears started to stream down Anne's beautiful face. She wanted to act strong in front of her friend, but her emotions got the better of her. She bit her lip trying to stop herself from making a sound, and yet the tears won't stop.
Connor saw Anne's crying face. Her eyes started to redden, while the tear streaks on her face were cascading like a waterfall. Truthfully, he was mesmerized by her beauty but he was able to jolt himself awake and approach Anne carefully.
He took out his handkerchief from his pocket and slowly wiped away Anne's tears. Connor made sure to be gentle with the movements he made. He waited for Anne to calm down, he wanted to say something and yet he did not know what were the right word to say to comfort her.
Both of them stood at the kitchen in silence. One was crying while the other one was waiting and wiping away the tears.
Connor looked at Anne sincerely, full of love. He was hurting inside as he saw the woman he loves suffering. He wanted to hug her, to comfort her, but he kept reminding himself that he was only a friend. It was not the kind of love a friend should have for another friend especially with one who is married.
However, he could not help himself. He had been in love with Anne since college, but Anne choose Timothy thus he gave up. Connor wanted Anne to be happy even though deep inside he wanted Anne for himself. He let the one girl who he was willing to offer his everything get together with another man, his best friend.
He moved away, far away, thinking that the distance might help his heart forget. But that never happened. He could not help himself looking at news articles about Anne, he was happy for her, he tried to be happy for her. But now the person he loves dearly is suffering.
She should be.
Connor wanted to look away from Anne's crying face, from her suffering. In the end, he couldn't, he flew miles away just to take a glimpse of his dear friend even though he was busy. He had a job to do, but he left everything aside just so he could see how Anne was doing. He knew he made the right choice to come because at this moment, at this time, Anne needed him the most. He could not contain his emotion any further as he held both of Anne's shoulder and looked at her. He looked at her as though she was the only thing he could see, as though she was his everything.
Anne was surprised by the sudden tightness she felt on her shoulders. Two big hands were holding her shoulders as though not wanting to let her go. She wanted to move away from those hands, but she felt his grip was not something she could remove with her strength alone.
Thus, she looked up at the person who was holding her shoulders, and there she saw his expression.
It was an expression that was also full of suffering and heartache. She did not struggle once she saw that man's face. She was finally able to stop her tears falling down her face when she saw Connor's face. It was because the man was on the brink of crying, his eyes started to wet but he was clenching his jaws as though he did not want to let the tears fall. His eyes were reddening but his gaze stayed on her.
This made Anne unable to look away because she knew.
She knew since they were in college that this man was in love with her. However, she did not expect that he still had feelings for her. It has been years and he never confessed his feelings, but she could always feel his gaze, he was always looking at her, admiring her. She could not help herself but raise her hand and touch his cheeks.
Connor flinched by the sudden touch and let his hands let go. He took a step back as though he did something wrong. There was some confusion on his face. Why wouldn't he be confused as he tried to avoid this woman who was now standing in front of him.
He did not trust himself to be able to hold himself back, he was afraid that he might do something he might regret therefore he chose to move away. However, the warm feeling as Anne caress his face will forever be ingrained in his heart.
Original novel by Chuchuwachuwa.
