F I N I T E ~ I N C A N T A T E M

P R O L O G U E

It's been a while since I last had the energy to write again. I got so distracted with life that I somehow forgot that writing has always been my form of catharsis. And now that I'm in the middle of closing a chapter in my life, I find myself grabbing my laptop, and typing my heart away. Hoping that once I finish this story, I'll finally have the courage to let go of things that no longer serve me.

I don't quite know how to begin, to be honest, so I guess I'll just start from the beginning. In that way, you can get the whole picture. Will I romanticize this to make us look good? No. Why? Because I want you to learn something from this.

Is it a cliché' love story? I don't know. Maybe. I can guarantee you what it's not, though. There's no star-crossed lovers' bullshit nor right love - wrong time crap. It's just a story of two people who decided to jump into a relationship because they thought the world was ending. Crazy, huh? Well, that's how it started, nothing grand. I used to call it temporary madness, per se, not fully knowing that it would be one of the biggest lessons in love that I'll learn. I guess the jokes on me, huh? 

If you don't want to read further then I suggest you stop here, but if you are interested then feel free to read on.

oOo

It all started way back in 2016, May 24th of 2016, to be exact. Why do I remember the date? Because aside from the fact that it was one of my long-time friend's birthdays, it was also the day that I decided to download a dating app and try my luck in dating for the first time. Yes, you read that right. I decided to date in my late 20s instead of my prime years like any normal human being. It did cross my mind a few times, though, but I never really put my mind to it. I didn't understand my actions before, but now that I'm years older, I finally got the answer to that.

Friends.

And for two reasons.

One, I had people that I can call whenever I was feeling lonely. We'd hang out for hours, and by the time I get home, I had already forgotten the lonesome feeling I had. And two, I saw how bad they hurt when their relationships fail. I'm that friend, you know? The one they run to whenever shit hits the fence with their love life. I am the sponge that absorbs all of their heartbreaks. The one who drinks three cups of coffee and sits by them while they cry their eyeballs out. (FYI: I think that's where I got my GERD now, to be honest) The one who gives good advice because I can look at things objectively. Ultimately, I think that was the main reason why dating never appealed to me that much, the heartache.

I don't remember what came over me that day, but before I know it, I was already signing up. The dating app I used is not like the dating apps nowadays where you can only see pictures and swipe. It was more interactive. It's kinda like Facebook. You get to have your wall where you can post whatever you want and there is also this general feed where you can see other people's posts. I didn't talk to anyone and just read posts, but one of my friends told me that I was there to talk to people so I did. I replied to some of them, but knowing me, I never followed through with the conversations. Some managed to pique my interest, but they never last. Either I get bored talking to them, or they start steering the conversation to something sexual, which is not my thing. 

oOo

So, after having said all of that, I'd say this is where the real the story begins...