Chapter 49
BEING APART FROM YOU HURTS
A few days had passed since they signed the divorce papers, and this was the last morning Elena would spend in the house they had rented to start their married life.
Her brother Jorge was coming to pick her up in a few minutes so they could go together to the port, where they would take the ferry to Ibiza; but she, sitting on the stool at her vanity, still couldn’t believe what was happening.
Overwhelmed by it all, she refused to leave the bedroom she had shared with Victoria for those two years.
Now, a place once so full of life was filled with the empty echo of the moments they had lived together, fading before her eyes as if they had never existed.
After signing the papers, after watching her now ex-wife walk away without so much as a glance in her direction, she knew that a flood of emotions was stuck inside her.
Her suitcases were packed and waiting by the door; she knew she wouldn’t have another chance to see her, so she decided to say goodbye to her through a letter.
She had no idea if Victoria would ever read it, but hope didn’t stop her fingers or her emotions.
One by one, she wrote down every word in her own handwriting, and when she finished, she let the pen fall onto the paper.
Elena stared at the sheet, her eyes misty with tears.
With a sigh, she carefully folded it and placed it on the pillow she used to share with Victoria, next to her wedding ring.
Part of her wanted to stay, to cling to the memories and the hope of a future together, but she knew she had to move on and let the rest flow, like the waters of the sea.
With faltering steps, she left the bedroom and closed the door behind her, taking with her that love that would never die, not even in distance or silence, time or space.
Dear Victoria,
I don’t know where to begin filling this page, which right now feels too small to express everything I feel. My soul aches as I write, but I don’t know why I couldn’t leave without doing this—perhaps to draw a line under it, perhaps to leave a door open that I don’t want to close completely.
The words get stuck in my throat as if they were trying to escape this prison of emotions that my heart has become since you decided to break up with me.
It hasn’t been easy, has it? Deciding that our story had to end like this, in an awkward silence, with broken words and a void that right now seems endless.
I remember every moment we spent together, from that morning we met on the beach to the days we held hands while walking at sunset and shared so much more than glances and smiles.
We were just girls back then, with dreams so big they barely fit in our little world.
And yet, those dreams, those longings, are now part of the ocean that separates us.
I am certain that everything has changed.
We have changed. We have become shadows of who we once were, trapped in a labyrinth of disappointments and misunderstandings that seem to have no way out.
Vic, how did we get here? How did we let the love that united us turn into this burden that drags us toward the abyss?
I wonder if I’ll ever be able to forget your laughter, your caresses, the warmth of your skin against mine. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to sleep again without feeling your presence by my side, without longing for the touch of your lips. I wonder if I’ll ever feel whole again.
Despite everything that has happened, I want you to know that I love you.
I love you with every fiber of my being, with every beat of my heart.
And even though right now the pain of this separation threatens to consume me, I know that what I feel for you will always be there, like a light guiding my steps in the darkness, like a lighthouse does for fishermen on the high seas.
No matter what the future holds for us, I will always carry in my heart the hope that someday, somehow, you will return and we can move forward with this. I don’t know if it’s crazy to think that. I don’t know if it’s too much to ask that you not forget what we promised each other.
I don’t know if you’ll ever read these words, but I want to believe that, somehow, they’ll reach you and remind you that, no matter what happens, there will always be a place in my heart where you’ll be present.
I love you, Victoria. Now and always.
With all my love,
Elena