Unyielding

"You don't have to go, you know?"

A pale yellow draws upon her face, the setting sun casting a long weary shadow, sketching the moment as two hands fought to be together. Hours pass but the tension remains a tightly wound rope holding the weight of their relationship.

As he looked into her eyes he saw the perfect future, and he wasn't about to let it go.

"Please."

He feared rejection, that they would never meet again. It was a pattern with them and he knew there was so little a chance; a slim possibility that he had to seize if he ever were to smile again. In her eyes he sought the answer he wanted, probing, hinting, begging her to reenact the exact scene he has played over in his mind for the past years.

So much has changed, but he still remembers the few conversations they've had; the yearning fresh within him; the desperation for her touch overwhelming him with every breath he takes.

"It's just..." she barely spoke when he took her by the arms and kissed her.

"Don't go," tears were falling down his face as he looked into her eyes.

But the rain came, pouring from the skies above determined to separate them. A taxi pulled up the driveway, horns blaring with the customary impatience. Their lips part; hands and gaze to follow.

He moved to help her carry the bags, but she was quick, always one step ahead of his every thought; she knew him that way.

"I'm sorry, but we can't go on. I've done so much harm to you already," she said as she hurried to the taxi, making sure not to fall back into his gaze. She reached into her pocket and showed him the ring he had bought her.

"Here." Something inside died as she handed him the velvet grey box.

He held on to it tightly as the car door closed, his tears no longer visible in the pouring rain. He watched the taxi drive off, accelerating into the cloudy horizon taking his love with it.

The ring wasn't as he remembered it. Cold to the touch, the white band broke into slivers of his shattered dreams; the solitary diamond reminding him of how alone he is; the hollow of the ring seeking her finger, calling out to the one it was made for.

Nothing's changed, and to him every day will be a wait in the rain with hopes dashed and dreams faded.

But there he stood, waiting for the taxi to return, reenacting the scene that didn't happen, still living the same love he had for her from so long ago.