I WAITED TILL DEATH

In one of the rooms of a luxurious villa that belonged to a famous artist named Irvin Phillip , a young man was mourning the death of his lover, Luna , unknown to the world.

******

Irvin had met Luna in Boston when he was still in high school. Luna was the first person to have whole heartedly supported his dream and cared for him. For a child with a dysfunctional family like Irvin , Luna was his spring, his sunlight .Like any typical story they fell in love. After graduating from high school, Irvin went on to pursue his dream and Luna financed him.

But even after being successful , Luna remained a secret from the world. His fame became his shackle. They could no longer meet each other freely , obviously because he wanted to avoid rumours and not anger his female fans , and slowly but surely , they started to avoid each other. Their meetings decreased and the people who once could not stay a day without talking to each other , met each other barely once a year.

Both of them had their own reasons. Irvin felt guilty while facing Luna. Luna was the person who had stood beside him during all times– good or bad. She had financed him, she was the one who believed in him when the whole world mocked his dream– Luna was the person who had dragged him out of his nightmare. During high school , Luna was one of the prettiest girls in class and she even had good grades. While he was a freakish nerd that people avoided. They had once met accidentally but they ended up sticking with each other. Luna wanted to be a pianist and she might have been one if she had never meet a coward like him. But to finance his dream, she sacrificed hers , his fame was built at the cost of someone else's. In the beginning of his career, when things didn't go smooth, Luna had kept comforting him. She had sacrificed her all for him with the brightest smile you could find in the whole world. But he was ungrateful. He had never officially declared that Luna was his girlfriend because he didn't wanna lose fans. The name 'Luna' means the moon, but Luna had always been his shadow...

Now that his moon was gone , there was nothing left other than regrets. He believed Luna deserved something much better.

Luna,on the other hand, never wanted to avoid Irvin. But circumstances made her. She wasn't angry because Irvin hid her, she wasn't regretful of her decisions, because she had made them out of consideration. To other people, Luna seemed like a really happy girl, but Luna just wanted to avoid any questions about her family. People smile to express their happiness, Luna used her smile to convey ' everything is alright' no matter how bad things may be. Luna's mom died when she was really young. Her mom was the bridge between her and her dad. So, when her mom died , they naturally drifted apart to the point they looked like unpleasant neighbours. When Luna found someone that she could naturally connect with, she did not want to lose that person. And that person was Irvin.

When Irvin's life had just taken a turn for the better, Luna was diagnosed with blood cancer.

Luna was broken by this news. Their sweet love story had then become a tragedy. It wasn't long that they had started, they were yet to see their future. Her dream was to one day see Irvin on a shining stage and receive a prestigious award. Even if he could not do so well , it was alright as long as she could stand by him. But now , something she hadn't ever imagined had become their reality.

Luna spent endless nights crying. Sometimes suicide seemed to be a better option than dying from cancer. They were going alright , but now there was an imbalance in their seemingly perfect lives– and the cause of that imbalance was she herself. She would become a 'burden'. She hated the word 'burden' more than anything else because when her father used to be drunk and wasted, he used to mumble endlessly that Sherly ,her mom was a huge burden and that's why it was a great thing she died quick.

Luna, who barely had any memories of her mother , thought it was all her mom's fault and swore that she'd never be a 'burden'.

Now she was one.

After thinking a lot, she thought it'd be better not to reveal her health condition to Irvin because just when things had started to get better ( atleast for him) he should not be distracted from his work just because of her.

Days passed. Luna had to do a lot of part time jobs to accomodate the treatment costs. The doctor said that since it's the initial stage, though there's a really low chance of recovering from that damned disease , a chance was there. Luna kept hoping she might be on the lucky side. Irvin , on the other hand, was busy with his tight schedule. Even making time for Luna on her birthday became difficult for him. But , even through all this struggle, they kept looking forward to meeting each other.

They still remained equally important to each other.

But soon misunderstandings took over their heart. And because of different reasons they started to avoid each other and most prominent one, they were busy doing life, they were busy struggling for a place to live. They had questions to ask each other , but they didn't . They themselves found the answers to them , though the answers were far from reality.

After Luna's 20th birthday in June , her disease started to get serious. But she decided to keep it a secret, she kept hoping that it's was all temporary and it was just one of the tests you have in life. She would still have her future.

But it was difficult going through all that alone. Irvin was busy with his life. This year,his popularity was hyped. He must use it to his advantage. Still ,at the end of the day , he waited for Luna's call. Suddenly in July, Luna's calls became less frequent and by September she called him once a month.

Obviously, he was heart broken by this , but he kept on going. He reminded himself that his fame and dream was Luna's sacrifice , he mustn't let that go to waste. If someday, there's a call from Luna , saying that she had somebody better than him for her and that she wanted to break up, he must let her go. Afterall, he had never been able to pay proper attention to her, he's been here, in the spotlight and she'd been staying there hoping that one day he'd give her the position she deserved. He hated the fact that Luna might one day leave him , but he thought that she might be better if he left her alone.

The same went with Luna. Irvin rarely called her. Most of the times , it was her calling him. Judging by his tone , she always felt he was tired and annoyed. She always felt she was causing a disturbance. In her mind , she thought that maybe Irvin had found another girl, afterall the showbiz never had a crisis of pretty girls, and who would like a country bumpkin like her. Any girl would be better than her , a patient , a burden. The more popular he went, the more she thought she did not deserve him. At times she felt as if she was clinging onto him.

She kept imagining worse scenarios and thus, worsened her health. So when she next got her report , she mentally broke down. In her mind , she already imagined herself dead.

Irvin thought all his assumptions were correct after not getting a single call from Luna even during new year. His imaginations ran wild and sometimes he just thought of breaking down. The situation went so bad that by early January, he needed a break.

After pondering over it a lot , he finally called Luna in February before getting down to work.He spoke out every thing he wanted to. He finally realised he needed a good chat with Luna. Even after ranting for almost an hour, Luna was not bored. As usual, Luna said everything was alright. Irvin thought he was overthinking, but a part of him kept feeling something was off. A part of this puzzle was still missing, but he payed no attention. He felt great after speaking to Luna.

Luna on the other hand kept on trying to hide her illness. Irvin's voice worked like the best medicine for her. She was glad Irvin didn't forget her.

That was their last call.

Irvin was back to work. He kept receiving great offers. He felt satisfied, not because he had fulfilled his dream, but because Luna's sacrifices had not gone to waste.

They thought things were back on line , but it was all temporary...

In late spring , Luna breathed her last.

When Irvin came to know about it , his world fell apart, afterall it was a world lightened by Luna herself, it revolved all around Luna, all for Luna.

So if Luna was gone it became meaningless. For whom? No one , these words kept ringing in his mind. Luna had left quite a few things for him which included an old portrait of him drawn by Luna. During the time they were in Boston. Pure. They didn't know such a tragedy would ever be a part of their lives. It was all her and him. The painting still gave off that relaxing feeling, though it's painter went through hell before being granted freedom...

A tear rolled down his cheek. He just felt that if Luna was there she'd have wiped it off , though he was never there for her. He was selfish and did everything for his own dreams. He blamed it all on himself.

Along with the painting was a written tune. Luna must have cried while writing this, he thought for the tear drop still had its little stain.

Suddenly, Irvin felt the silence that enveloped him was comforting, which was rare because he hated it when all was silent. It took him back to his nightmarish days, when he cried all alone in the dark. It felt dead. That's why he liked crowds . Where there are people. And it is full of life.

A sudden gust of perfume embraced him. A really shallow lavender. He instantly recognised the perfume to be of Luna. Only Luna smelt like a slight lavender. That smell always made him feel things were okay.

"It'd be alright". Irvin was startled by this. It felt so much like Luna. Though he thought he had heard it in his head. The wisp of lavender seemed to be fading , or rather....

(heading?)

into the piano room.

He had kept that piano so that he could show it to Luna someday. As a surprise. But now it's all a regret..

A low , comforting tune floated out of the room. It was a cheerful tune but now it felt kind of sad. As if , the writer had a lot of regrets. Sort of like a person who's kept in the dark but he believes that someday he'd be out ....

Though that someday could be an eternity away...

"Just keep believin'." these words came to his mind as he heard the tune. The song was comforting . It seemed to wash off all his worries. For a moment he felt Luna had never really died. She was just in the piano room. Practicing a tune. What he heard about Luna dying was all a silly dream. A nasty dream. A nightmare that won't ever come true...he won't let it come true .

He ran to the piano room to catch a glimpse of Luna. The dream would be over then.Luna is this close. Just beyond that door. It was all a night—

.

.

—mare.

No one. There was no one beyond that door. It was empty. Suddenly all his feelings of remorse and shame clouded his judgement again. It was no dream. Luna was gone.... forever.

No one knows for how long he would not be able to see her. Tears rolled down to the floor. Unconsciously his eyes moved to the piano cover on the

(floor!)

But no one was in here.

Maybe someone was in there. Maybe it was Luna. It must be Luna .

His thoughts were interrupted by the clatter of plates.

He was assured that it was Luna. She was in the kitchen, doing the dishes. Everything was alright.

He ran to the kitchen.

But on his way, he saw a trail of lilies. The lilies that were kept at his table.

The trail ended at the painting.

The old , soothing portrait of him that Luna drew in Boston.

But he was more astonished by what was written on the canvas.

In black dripping paint were the words, " I am sorry"

He was familiar with the strokes and curves of the writing. It was Luna's writing. Every bit of it.

Still the most weird part was the black paint that covered Luna's signature at the corner of the canvas.

It was, as if , she wanted him to forget her. Forever.

That last lily ended at Luna's grave.