Dandelion Lover

I was stunned, to say the least. I forgot where I was, who was around me and what I was doing. Without saying a word I got up from the couch and left the room only to speed my way home. It was the middle of the afternoon but my house was fully closed, with no sign of anyone living in it. I opened the front door only to enter a stuffy hallway that was shrouded in darkness. All around me was complete silence, the heavy air was suffocating me as I started going around the rooms.

"Melanie!" I shouted but no answer came. I went through the kitchen, everything was cleaned and placed in the usual place, then going towards the living room, I started opening up the curtains and letting the sun enter the empty house. There had still been no answer and it was driving me nuts. Sweat slipped slowly onto my skin but I wasn't sure if that was from the heat of the sun or the foreboding feeling I had.

Soon enough I was going up the stairs and into the bedroom, same as in the other rooms there was nothing out of place and after I threw aside the curtains to let the sun in, I pushed open the window and I was greeted with a pleasant breeze that smelled of flowers and earth. That would usually calm me down but not this time. I could feel the blood draining from my face as I stood in front of the wardrobe hesitating to open it. I froze on the spot when I notice it was half-empty.

"Why?" I simply asked myself and jumped up when a voice answered me.

"It the right time." The meek voice responded. When I turned around I saw Melanie looking at me from the doorway of the bedroom and my eyes became increasingly hard to keep open and I squinted at them as a reflex.

"Don't make that face..." She continued while adopting a matter of fact expression. "We both knew this was coming, and I rather we do this peacefully than to fight like children, after all, we're not 18 anymore."

I looked transfixed at her blonde hair neatly arranged behind her ears, her body wanted to appear relaxed but it still gave the impression that she was uncomfortable and became slightly tensed when I backed away from the dresser and let myself drop on the bed. She was leaning on the door while waiting for me to snap out of whatever was happening to me. I was overwhelmed with feelings of confusion, sadness and most of all, surprise. How did this happen? Where did I go wrong? Was there someone else? But among all these questions, the most insignificant one caught in my throat.

"Why are you home at this hour?" I could see she was surprised at my calm tone. She seemed like she wasn't entirely sure whether I was really that way or if the idea just hadn't sunk in yet.

"The detective, he told me you stormed out of his office and were saying how you had to get home." I looked at her and it took a while until it finally registered. "He's an old family friend. An ex-colleague of my fathers to be exact. You really know how to pick them..." She replied with a shrug when she was sure I was listening again.

"Since when..." I started but it was hard to voice my thoughts, they were all spinning randomly in my head and I was unsure of how exactly to express them. "Where are your things?" I finally asked only to get a long sigh in response.

"I moved them out a couple of days ago." She replied and her eyes stared at the ground. "I thought you would notice, but seeing how you acted, I was once again reassured I made the right decision." I felt like thousands of feet were trampling on my head and my stomach was churning, but all I could do was to sit motionlessly on the bed and listen to her while clenching my fists.

"There is no point dragging this out, we both know it, we were once happy and in love...." She continued her speech which seemed rehearsed but I could tell she meant every last word of it. "But things change, we as people change, and we can't hide behind the busy lives and excuses as we did until now. We barely speak anymore, and I care for you, but that is all that's left, a care that is no longer love, no longer passion, it's just the feeling of being familiar with each other. Our passion has long subsided and we are just a little more than strangers at this point. You might not see it now but think about it, it is true and you know it as well as I do."

This last statement made me feel chills running through my veins and I suddenly remembered the flushed face that Kate sometimes had and the way her warm touch brought me more happiness than I felt in a long time. I would feel guilty every time I looked at her and saw a woman instead of my employee, but I couldn't control my longing to see and speak to her, touch her or even just hear her voice. I knew it wasn't normal, but I was willing to push back these needs as much as I could, because I once swore to give my all to the woman in front of me, the woman who now looked like a stranger to me, the one who was by my side all these years, and at the same time, the one who seemed foreign to me now.

"I can tell you understand what I mean..." Melanie said in a low voice that snapped me right out of my thoughts of Kate. I couldn't deny it, even though I didn't like it, she was right.

"We got caught up in the day-to-day routine and without giving more thought to us as a couple we began thinking of me and you." She continued with a calm voice. "I know you care, and you will always be a precious existence to me, but we need to break this pattern and live for our own happiness." Without waiting for an answer she turned with her back to me and walked towards the entrance.

"Think about it." Was all I heard her say before she was out the door.