his cologne
we've been laying in my bed
for hours now, neither of us sleeping
nor talking, just holding each other.
from the moment he walked in the front door
i knew that he had something on his mind,
he wants to tell me something; though
i am not sure what.
"baby girl i need to tell you... something"
he said as he ran his gentle hands through my hair.
all i could reply with was "okay"
i turn around to face him,
and we stare into each others eyes for a silent moment.
he looks away from my eyes, his breath trembling a little.
i gently guide his eyes back at mine and
as i do, i notice tears
on his cheeks. he is crying.
i wipe away each tear carefully and gently,
and he cannot hesitate anymore.
i know what he is going to say,
and i knew that this would happen
sooner or later.
"we're so far apart all the time, literally miles apart.
i always worry about you when i am back at my home.
last year i graduated high school, and now im in college...
you graduate this year...- i just miss you so much when we
are not together..."
he says as he chokes on his words, with his tears flowing
steadily.
a single tear wets my cheek, my own tear
but i dont wipe it away.
i rest one hand over his heart, and the other tangled
in his soft brown hair, that is always slightly curly.
and i finish his sentence
as he searches my eyes with his own.
"i know that this distance
is greater than the both of us and its tearing us apart...
i understand that its no longer healthy to
be so far apart but so deep in love. and i know that we
need to let go ... of us, of each other." i say gently.
he sobs... and it hurts that i cant
stop it.
" i found someone and i did not mean to... there is just
something there... her and i are like magnets-
she and i did things... while you and i were still together-"
after he says this, he stops crying.
my hand stops moving in his hair, and i cannot speak.
it isn't his fault... it is no ones fault. i am not mad.
"you hate me... don't you?"
he whispers.
i sigh, looking for words...
"i don't hate you... i am not capable of hating you. i have
seen enough of your delicate soul to not even think about
hating you
because you genuinely are a good person and i know you
always mean well. you two are magnets,
but we, we are gravity.
i love you... maybe too much-" i explain to him.
he sits up
and pulls me into his warmth
with his gentle yet strong arms-
...
will this be the last time i get to smell
his cologne? like this? in his arms?
will this be the last time that i get to hug him?
...
he interrupts my thoughts
as he puts on
our
song.
i cannot hold in the tears anymore
as i begin to sob
in his arms...
and he is crying again.
we're a mess, but we're a beautiful mess.
and we stay like that for a while longer.
"i do not want us to become strangers, i still want to be..."
i don't know how to finish my own sentence.
"friends... actually, more than that, but-"
he pauses for a second to look at me.
" i am not sure that there is a word for that... if you know
what i mean." he tells me.
"i know what you mean" i softly say.
he grabs my chin
and kisses me
with such delicacy-
it felt
like
heaven.
he gets up
and takes off his sweater
and tosses it next to me.
"i love you" he says with pain, with sadness evident in his
voice.
he turns away and leaves.
and then it hits me-
my journal. i get up and trash my room
to find my journal just as i hear his car engine start
and all this journal is... its really just
full of poems that i wrote for him,
but never had the courage
to read them to him.
i sprint out of my house
and his car is almost around the corner of my street...
"wait!" i scream, hoping that he heard me.
his car stops abruptly
and i sprint towards him, towards my other half.
when i reach him, i am a mess.
i hand him the journal
full of overdue poems
that i wrote for him.
he looks down at it, confused
so i motion for him to open it,
and he does.
he reads the first part out loud;
"if you are reading this that means i have given you
my heart. my thoughts. myself. me.
i love you so much... and these words i wrote in here-
are only a piece of my love for you,
because it is impossible to write it all down...
my love is more than the words that i wrote
for you... it is more than just ink on a page-"
and he stops reading.
he closed the journal.
he kisses my forehead
and whispers into my ear:
"i know. i will never have someone like you again because
you are a rarity... you are so much more than just a beautiful
face... because your soul is drowning in beauty... don't ever
forget that, mi amor."
he lets me go and gets into his car,
and
drives
away.
i am left standing there,
not knowing what to do
because i feel so lost.
i sit down and
i cry
and cry
and
cry.
eventually i get up and walk
back home.
as i slip off my sandals,
i notice something on the table where
the keys are kept.
i look a little
closer and notice it is a little
glass bottle.
i pick it up
only to realize
that he
left me
his
cologne.