Confessions of a Lover.. ( A Short Story )

This story might seem really cheesy and perhaps too cliched - except that it is not.

I am not too sure how memories are triggered. All the things that happen to us or the experiences we go through are stored nicely in our pretty little heads but we don't think about every thing all the time. Usually a long lost memory creep its way back into consciousness if we see something similar happening again, perhaps to someone, perhaps in a movie. Certain songs trigger certain memories. They say, scent is the most powerful invocator of memory.

But then there are certain memories that just pop into your head after a long time and as that memory comes back, it seems like it happened just yesterday.


One such memory came to her head from nowhere yesterday. She tried to look around for a trigger but there was none. She realized that she hadn't thought about this incident for years now. It was as if she had forgotten it. But then when it came back, it came back with every word she had heard then and every touch she felt.
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.
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It was an ordinary afternoon when he was sitting on the bed putting his head in yet another book while she was cleaning and re-setting up the house.

"So, I wanted to ask you something..." she said while putting the last of the folded clothes in the dresser.

"hmm... what is it?" he asked without looking up from his book.

She turned around, looked at him, smiled and said, "Well, its going to sound really cheesy but I am curious."

"Ah - that curiosity again. I have a feeling its going to get me in so much trouble one day," he grinned, this time looking at her.

"Well, not if you answer me properly." She added.

they both smiled.

"You might need some time to think about, but once you do, I am curious to know.... when was the first time you realized you were in love with me?" She asked seriously.

"Ah - the things you ask!" he teased.

After a brief pause he continued.

"I don't think I need time to think about this one," he replied while closing the book, and sitting up straight. He raised his arm and gestured towards her to come and sit with him. When she sat, he began.

"Remember the time when we used to meet on Saturdays and talk for the whole night and still pretended that we were 'just friends'?" he asked solemnly.

"Yeah, I remember that. You wouldn't sleep," She chuckled.

"And remember when there were a couple of Saturdays when I couldn't see you because I was out of town for that conference?" he added.

"Yes. Is that the time when you were in that car accident?" she asked immediately.

"Yes. When we were coming back, my friend and I, we had a head on collision with a truck. I don't how we survived," he laughed.

"It's NOT funny! You scared me so much then," She protested his laughter.

"Thank God we weren't hurt that much," he replied.

"You were in the hospital for 8 days!" She protested again.

"And you remember the exact day counts?" he asked almost surprised.

"You think! Those were like 8 years to me, of course I remember," She declared.

"Well when we had that collision, my friend passed out almost immediately while I was still conscious but barely. Since we didn't take the interstate to come back, we were on a smaller highway and there was very little traffic, it took a while for help to come because there weren't many people who saw the accident." his response.

"But you never told me that," She interrupted.

"I didn't want to worry you, besides I was fine by the time I saw you so I didn't even want to think about it,"
he came up with an excuse.
"So, when I was stuck in the car, I tried to move but I couldn't. I don't really know what exactly was hurting, but every time I tried to move I would feel a sharp pain all over and I couldn't move anymore. My energy was dwindling with each passing minute and it seemed like I was going to lose consciousness too. I tried to keep myself awake though, because I was afraid that if I had fainted I might not wake up."

He paused for a moment, stared at her hands as if he was putting the pieces together in this head, and then started again.

"You know, they say that when you are about to die, your whole life flashes before you?" he continued without waiting for an answer. "Well, that did not happen to me. There were no images of my childhood, no images of life flashing by me. Believe, it or not, as I lay there feeling nothing but pain, all I could think about was you, and that if I never get to see you again how will you ever know, and that I didn't want to die just yet. Your face was so clear in front of my eyes and you looked so beautiful and despite all the pain, I wanted to get up and see you in person. At that moment it seemed as I hadn't seen you or talked to you in ages and I missed you terribly."

At this time, her face was blank, and she couldn't think of a single word to say to him. She reached out and touched his hand. So, he continued.

"Then I felt my eyes closing and I don't remember anything after that. I don't know who came and who rescued us. I woke up in the hospital after a day or so. And when I opened my eyes, I didn't see the hospital room or the people around me. All I saw was your face again. And I smiled."

Her grip on his hand tightened.

"As I recovered for the next few days in the hospital and regained my full consciousness, I realized how much I love you and how much I want to be with you all the time. It was almost a revelation because before that I knew that I felt something for you and that you were important to me but I didn't know that you have consumed me to this extent, that the last thing on my mind when I thought I was about to die was YOU. I have been in road accidents before but something like this has never happened to me. So then, once I came back, I told you."

"You mean, you asked me if I loved you," She chuckled and tried to lighten the moment.

"Well, I had to start the conversation somewhere," he protested.

"That wasn't a conversation starter, that was more like finding out if I felt the same way before you spill the beans which is soooo courageous of you." She declared sarcastically.

"Since I knew I felt so strongly for you, I was terrified of being rejected and losing you," he announced.

She laughed. Then a moment later, asked,

"But, I never knew you went through all of that. I didn't even know the accident was that bad. We have been together for two years, how come you never told me about this?" she asked solemnly.

"Well, you never asked until today," He smiled at her.

She rolled her eyes. Then she found him looking at her face. She was all too familiar with that look - that specific look of a man in love.

"So, its my turn now... when was it for you?" he asked.

She leaned in a bit, putting her hand on his cheek.

"That's a story for another time," she almost whispered in his ear.

"Thats not fair,' he said grazing her lips with his.

"Love is never fair darling," she smiled.

As their lips melted into each other and his arms pulled her closer, she felt like the luckiest woman in the whole world.

And years later, she still does.



-omi