I am living the best life these days. You could say everything is going well for me lately. I have a job that pays me well, a good house that I recently bought with my own savings and last but not the least a beautiful lover. Yes, that’s right. I have got myself a smart, caring and a beautiful girlfriend. Days has been bless for me. I have got nothing to worry. And soon we are thinking of marrying. There should not be any problems, right?

As I was daydreaming about all of these things. A sudden sound woke me up that left me startled. I realized that was my house bell ring sound. I stood and walked towards my gate to check who was there at this hour. I wouldn’t say that was a late timing but i wouldn’t regard this a perfect timing either.

I opened the door and found a man who was looking nothing like normal. He was panting like crazy. He kinda had a look on his face that made me think that he was probably crying. I have never met this man before in my life, i swear. But something about him was telling me that he was not a mere stranger.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Do you know Susi?” he asked

That question left me baffled. I stared him from top to bottom to find a hint of recognition but i failed to do so. I was trying to recollect everyone I knew from Susi cause I knew everyone from her family to her friends. And why wouldn’t I know everyone cause Susi is my girlfriend!!!

I smirked and asked, “Do YOU know Susi?”

He was anxious and insecure saying what he wanted to. But he gathered every single amount of courage left him to answer my question.He was looking as if it was the end of the world for him.

“ She is my girlfriend. What about you?”

WHAT!!!?????????? I screamed in my mind. I wanted to say that out loud but i couldn’t. Words won’t just spill out of my mouth as if there chocked in there. I couldn’t wrap my head around this very situation. The girl that I was in love with has a another lover. And here I was thinking about our wedding.

I had my doubts from the beginning that how could a girl so perfect like her would love me but i tried to avoid any of them. But there was a possibility that he might be lying. I wanted to know the truth. But getting to the end of this situation standing in front of the door is a bit awkward. So I asked him to come in first.

He was trembling like a abandoned puppy in rain. I couldn’t get angry on him either even in this situation because technically, he was unaware until a now too. But i wonder, how did he get here?

The certainty of his words were killing me. How much of what he was saying was truth or a mere lie? I knew that thinking won’t give me any answer, rather just increase the stress that I was experiencing at that very moment.

I invited him in and asked him to get comfortable because no matter what, he was someone who was anxious and stressed out as I was.

“Tell me, how do you know this place?” I asked

Honestly, I had ample of stuffs to ask from him. Like how does he know Susi? How long have they been together. The curiosity was killing me. But him finding and coming to this place made me very puzzled. And honestly, finding all answers in an instant would have definitely left me shocked. So, i went for the easiest one. I was angry but I couldn’t bring myself to hate him cause we were sailing in the same boat. One can’t be unreasonable, right?

“ I found your location on the Lover’s GPS App” he replied.

“So I assume Susi doesn’t know you are here?”

“Of course, she doesn’t. She doesn’t even let me check her phone.”

I don’t know why but that me felt better because she had the app I installed for her. Though, I never check her phone either. Not because she doesn’t let me but i didn’t want to intervene in her privacy. Although he had himself guard up but he was unbelievably honest.

“ So you checked her phone without her permission. Even i don’t do that brat.”

He remain silent for a while and uttered while trembling,

“Are you his boyfriend?”

“You first, when did you guys meet?”

“ It has been three months. We met in a cafe in which I was regular.”

He answered all of my questions without any interrogation. I guess, he was also thirsty for answers. He went on and on all about his story as if he wanted someone to tell about him.

“ She was regular there too. I was watching her from afar because i thought she might be already taken and i didn’t have the guts either. She was older than me so i have to be extra careful. Finally one day I tried it out just to find out that she was single. So I th-” he continued

“Single, you say!?” I exclaimed.

“Y- Yes. That’s what she said to me. That’s why I approached her.” he startled.

“When did this happen?”

“Around four months ago.”

Oh! Now I remember. She said she was going to a business trip abroad around the same time. Well I guess, this is type of trip she mentioned she was going to.

Honestly, it was little difficult to admit the fact that I have been cheated on for so long and I couldn’t tell anything. My plans were all shattered in an instant. Susi’s image in my mind was started to crumbled down. Though, a part of me still couldn’t admit it or let go of her. I guess that was too soon to be asked. I was feeling nausea as he was unwinding all truth in front of me one by one.

One thing that was acceptable throughout our conversation and which actually kept a check on my temper was his honesty. Even though he knew, where he was and who was he talking to. He didn’t change throughout of it. Like maybe he would have sounded kind of intimated or violence, but he was polite yet impatient all the time. But on the other hand, it was hard to be calm and collected, though I was trying to be one. Deep inside I was wishing that he was lying or it was a nightmare and I’ll wake up forgetting all of this. But this wasn’t the case at all. He was there telling truth. The only thing that i could do was to admit it and think of my next move.

“So what happened next?” I asked

“We met each other after that quite often. She accepted my advances too. So I thought everything was going pretty well for us. But-”

“ But... But what?”

“ I always kind of felt that she was there but she wasn’t. Like she could leave me any minute. Even though we were together, it always felt like something was missing. She was in her own world and had her walls up which I could never cross.”

Listening to him talking felt like it was me he was talking about because I could relate to everything he said and was feeling like that for a while. I ignored this feeling, calling it “over-thinking” but i guess i was right about my fear. The fear that was in me for so long, that hunted me for so long was true after all. And now i can’t ignore it anymore.

I was scared of this feeling. Admitting it that I was not good enough for her or she was always far away from my reach was so hard but a bitter truth. I listened him talking silently because I was ashamed that a boy younger than me acknowledged his feelings so bravely and honestly while I couldn’t even to myself.

“Then did you stalked her?”

Kind of freaked out, “ NO!! No... I didn’t. One day i accidently read her pop up messages and that was from you. That day my fear turned into reality and then I looked for you because i wanted to confront you. But seeing you, I guess you didn’t know about this until now”

“ Well, yeah. You could say that. I had my own fears though, just never admitted.”

“That must be hard, isn’t?”

Smiling bitterly, “Better than admitting it”.

After that, there was an awkward silence. A strange kind of relief feeling overwhelmed me after admitting my inside feelings and kind felt my shoulders light too.

Trying to break the silence,I asked “ Do you love her?”

After a pause, “ I don’t know but she was the first one I liked. It pains my hurt to just to think about it. What about you?”

“ Well, I wouldn’t say that I am perfectly fine even after hearing all of this. Though it seems like this, I still had my happiest days in last one year. After all, we were thinking of marriage....”

“ So you guys were together for a whole year!?”

“ Well yeah. And you can call me a fool for not realizing it until now.”

“ So, what are you going to do?”

“We can’t just do everything by ourselves, can we? We have to talk this through.You should do it too.”

“So shall we do it tog-”

“No!! Even though its like this. We still gotta do this properly.Gotta be a man. Well, I know this is kinda sudden but what is your name?”

“Oh, My name is Eli, Ash.”