Sonata of The Shattered | Book I

The Past That Blooms

12 May 2022

After spending the day at the National University of Singapore, the lad went back home and decided to take some time alone in his study room. As soon as his wife greeted her in the living room, Clayton kissed her on the forehead and flashed a slight smile at her.

"Will you let me be alone for a while in my study room, Melissa?" asked the man politely and gently, not wanting to hurt her feelings or whatsoever as he knew how their relationship was; a platonic relationship with no mutual feelings exchanged in between. They're married because of his mother's request, in which both couldn't deny but to proceed with her plan in the past.

"Sure. Do you need a cup of tea or coffee to accompany you?" Melissa asked him softly, replied by a shake of his head. "I'll be just fine without it. Thank you." he said as he walked himself into his study room and locked the door, not wanting anyone to disturb him during his quiet time.

He put down his briefcase on the couch and loosen his tie. His fingers unbuttoned his collar and he rest his body on the cushioned chair he used to sit on for his daily work from home. A sigh slipped from his lips as he closed his eyes and rewind the moments he had hours ago; Fransesca Adelaidine.

The woman whom he loved so dearly was finally seen again after their separation several years ago. Almost two decades, if he could say so. He never thought that he would be able to see her again with all the things that happened between them but there she was, a professor herself just like how he was years ago and still, until today.

He's certain that he couldn't erase her from his memory nor his heart as she's his one and only true love. Never once did he feel that the woman was burdensome to him, though he tried to erase her from his life in the past. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't erase her at all. Everything about her seems to be perfect in his eyes.

The rejection? Sure, it's a painful one. She clearly rejected the idea of marriage or any romantic relationship between them but still, his heart can't love someone else but her. Even after trying not to look her up on the internet nor from his colleagues or ex-students.

He didn't ask Estelle, whom he knew was pretty close to Fransesca back in the days earlier, because he didn't want to open the old story full of pain and heartbreak. But then, when he saw her from afar— thrice, he knew that it was fate and destiny that brought him to Singapore again this week. It was the two of them; fate and destiny, that brought him to NUS for a guest lecture today.

It was unfortunate that they didn't meet each other in another way; which perhaps could bring a conversation between them. The shortest form of conversation such as an exchange of greetings would be something enough for him. After fifteen years of separation, he missed her voice and her laugh; that's for sure.

'What is it... Fransesca? What's the reason why you rejected my feelings in the past? How are you today? Are you doing well and okay without me and how's your life after I left for the States?' he questioned her in silence, inside his mind. 'The more I think of you, the more questions I have for you— the more I wish I could talk with you regarding the matter between both of us. Us, in the past.'.

Would it be a sin if he tried to look for her now? Would it be something strange if he tried to contact the woman now after those years, considering their relationship that fell apart and ended up in a bad way in the past? There's something inside him that kept on pushing him to contact her yet another part of him kept on holding back.

He's married now, to Melissa Mary Liu. He's not a bachelor or single man, who's able to call girls around as if they're unmarried as well.

"Right. I need to know who's your husband and how's your life now. I want to make sure that you now live a happy life with someone that you love so dearly." he mumbled. Quickly, the man reached for his phone on the desk and clicked on a profile that appeared on the phone's screen.

Erika, the lecturer he exchanged numbers with earlier at the university. The woman seems to know something about Fransesca, especially with his ex-lover now sitting in a high position in the institution. He also clicked on an ex-student's number that he kept and knew from the past. A student that was also in the same class with Fransesca, but not his class's back then.

"I'll be happy and will let you go now if you're happily married and living your life to the fullest, Fransesca. The fact that I will love you until the end of my lifetime is true and I'll never stop doing so."

He prayed inside his heart, that the answer he'll receive would be a great one and he could live his life more peacefully than today. To be assured and clear, that the woman that took his heart away, is well and okay.

to be continued.