The sky was full of clouds and it started to rain. It was as if the world itself were holding its breath, and the rain was falling softly.
Maya stood in the doorway of her childhood home. Her hair was wet, and her clothes were sticking to her. She looked at Adrian as he walked around the garden. He was moving slowly and carefully. His hands were shaking a little as he fixed a flower pot. Adrian always paid attention to even the smallestthings. This was his way of feeling in control of things when the world around him seemed to be falling.
"Adrian..." she whispered, her voice was shaking badly.
He turned around his eyes were full of worry and hope. For a second he just stood there looking at her. He was maybe waiting for her to say something or maybe waiting for her to react.
"Maya are you okay?" He asked. His voice shook a
little. It was like he had been wanting to say these words. The sound of his
voice brought back a lot of feelings in Maya.
She nodded, her heart was beating really fast and she could not say a word. All the times she stayed away from him, all the fights they had, all the tears she cried, and all the things she wanted to say but did not, all came back to her. The time they spent apart felt like a gap between
them.
"I… I don't know if I can trust this feeling," she
said quietly, tears mixing with the rain.
She said this in a quiet voice it was almost as quiet as the sound of the rain on the roof. The feeling she had was something she was not sure about. She wanted to talk about it. The words she wanted to say felt weird like they were not her own words. She thought she should be able to handle this. The feeling was, about trust. She was not sure if she could trust this feeling.
Adrian took a step closer to her, his eyes were soft but he really meant it. "Then do not think about it " he said, his voice was steady with the big storm going on outside. "Just feel what is happening with the storm and, with us " Adrian said.
His words were like a warm hug that spread through her chest. Before she knew what was going on he took a step closer to her and his fingers touched hers. She felt the warmth of his hand on her skin. His words and his touch made her feel safe.
For a moment, everything else faded away. It was just the feeling of their hands touching, warm and gentle, with a tiny spark of connection between them. It was like the whole world had come to a standstill. The rain came down hard around them getting them completely wet but neither of them made a move. They just stood there. The rain outside was nothing. The storm that had been going on inside both of them was much bigger.
He leaned in slowly. "I don't want to lose you
again," he said in a quiet voice. His words had a lot of feelings in them. He sounded real and truthful.
Maya's chest ached, her words trembling as she said, "I… I don't want to lose you either."
And then their lips met. It felt like this moment was a long time coming. At first, they kissed gently. Then the kiss became softer and more urgent filled with the sadness of what could have been and the pain of waiting for so long. They kissed like nothing mattered, like the only thing that was real was what was happening at this moment with each other.
The rain was pouring down on them but they did not care. When they finally stopped kissing, their foreheads touched together.
"I'm here," Adrian said. "And I'm not leaving."
Maya closed her eyes, letting the words sink in. "I know," she whispered. "I believe you."
She thought that this time they could really make things work between them. They could forget about all the things they did to each other and start fresh.
She was just about to relax, closing her eyes and feeling the warmth of his arms around her when her phone buzzed again.
Her heart skipped a beat. Adrian noticed and the smile on his face faded. She pulled out her phone and the phone screen showed a message from the same unknown number.
"Don't get too comfortable…..C."
"They're not done," she said, her voice was small. Maya had hoped that it was over.
Adrian pulled her close to him and his arms got tighter around her to keep her safe.
"Then we will face it together" Adrian said.
"Whatever comes our way we will deal with it together". His voice was full of determination.
Maya closed her eyes, she tried to calm down. The rain just kept falling, washing away the past, but the future was still uncertain. And somewhere, a shadow was waiting to test them again.
She looked up at Adrian her heart was pounding hard in her chest.
"Together" she said in a quiet voice.