The Desolated Two

// epilogue //

Anna,

When you read this, I'll be long gone. But let me tell you, if there's any such thing as ghosting, you would know my presence by your side because I would always look over you, whether it's from hell or heaven, or somewhere in the middle between those two places.

It's probably years from when I'm writing this, but I would always love you. You're my only daughter, but you're the best I could have asked for. You even fulfilled my wish to see a grandchild — what else could I ask for?

There's a purpose behind this letter. And you probably are wondering what that is. After so much struggle in your life, babygirl, you found yourself a man who loves you for who you are.

He's sitting right in front of me as I write this, conversing with your father and I see it — you and him growing old and having a family. He loves that little girl as his own, which every man's pride must refuse him to do so.

But, Diana, you've got yourself a keeper.

You both might find hardships along your way, but remember that love and trust can overcome the hardest of hurdles.

He asked for my blessing, and I gave it to him.

The answer's yours now.

I love you, Anna. Always in my heart.

Your Mom.

As I fold the letter I've read a thousand times now, a hand comes over to wipe away the tears that I didn't even realise have spilled.

Aaron looks at me as his blue eyes swirl with emotions, "You love that letter, don't you?" He asks, a small smile on his face and I nod, hugging him to myself.

"So much." I kiss him and he kisses me back, almost sighing in my mouth.

His lips find my hand as he lifts them, tracing the diamond resting on my ring finger  as he kisses it. Sometimes I still get dazed as I stare at the size of the ring.

The huge diamond lies perfectly between the two slim pair of my wedding ring. I cried like a baby when Aaron proposed to me, because I didn't think it would happen after I had pushed him away so many times. Especially after the terrible fights we had an year after he moved in.

All of that seems like a distant memory that's somehow still imprinted in my head. When I started working as Editor full time, Aaron and I barely made time for each other and then one day he announced that he was leaving S.M Publishing. Which was like cutting through the thread by which our relationship was hanging.

Adler & Coleman offered Aaron a job as one of the financial associates in their company. I couldn't understand why he wanted to demote himself by going from Junior Finance Manager to an associate but I knew he always thought he got that position because of me somehow. Plus, the company was a brand name in the corporate sector, which was his forte.

Marcel let him go, but Aaron and I fought a lot. Especially because it meant spending even lesser time together.

He moved out for a month, not coming back to the apartment at all as we refused to even look at each other until the day he came to collect his cheque from S.M. Publishing. We talked that day, a lot. And that's the first time I actually saw Aaron break down — making me realise that he was just as effected by the distance as I was. He missed Emily terribly, and she was five by then, understanding the fights Aaron and I were going through.