Timeless love

by Priscila Serrano

  He waited until the newlyweds got out of the church, knowing Elsa would go to his side then so they could go together to the celebration. And that was what happened. Elsa, after congratulating Alicia and Gian and wishing them the happiest of the futures, headed towards Luka and, hand in hand, they walked to their car without looking back. Elsa found that terribly difficult, but she managed to do it with Luka’s help, whose only intent was to make her smile as much as he could.

  They finally had a rest from the whole day. The wedding had been too long. They were enjoying of the party after a delicious meal, and the bride and groom were slow dancing as if there were nobody else sharing the space with them.

  Elsa focused on them while she ordered another drink, unaware that two men were watching her. Only one of them approached her because he was faster than the other one. After so many years, Stefan placed himself next to her so he could talk to her like he had been wishing to do since he saw her getting out of the car.

  “Can I keep you company?” he asked, taking her out of her thoughts.

  She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t realized Stefan was next to her. She looked at him and she felt overwhelmed by her nerves, preventing her to reply with words. She nodded and he smiled in that way that drove her crazy. A heartbreaking sigh captured her soul and he heard it.

  “You look more beautiful than ever,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Thanks.”

  She could only say that word. Her tongue felt numb.

  “How are you doing? I heard you have been getting outstanding in your work at the university. I always knew you would be the best.”

  “It’s been really hard.”

  Elsa didn’t want to sound harsh, but she didn’t know how to talk with him anymore. It had been too long and, taking into account the last time they saw each other they had kissed a few times before she threw him out of her life, it was extremely difficult now.

  They stayed silent, but unable to stop staring at the other. That would never change; their eyes would be always connected even if they were surrounded by a thousand people.

  “I missed you, Elsa,” he declared, covering her hand with his own.

  They entwined their fingers and he could check they still fit perfectly. At that moment, nothing that had happened between them mattered, as well as nothing they said or felt at that moment. The only thing that mattered was the present and he wanted to fight for their future, although he may have arrived a bit late.

  And right when she was going to answer, Luka went to them and hugged her from behind, looking for her mouth and kissing her passionately. It was his way of showing Stefan she wasn’t alone and, if he let him, she would never be alone. When they pulled apart, being watched by Stefan at all times because he wanted to see Elsa’s reaction, Elsa swallowed and Luka pretended to be surprised to see Stefan there.

  “Hi there. Stefan, right?” he greeted him, holding her hand out.

  Stefan nodded and shook his hand cordially, although at that moment he wanted nothing but kicking him in the balls for daring to kiss his girl. Because Elsa would always be his girl.

  “How are you?”

  Luka tried to be nice, but he failed. Stefan raised an eyebrow and drew a perfect smile, feeling smug. He was aware that Luka was afraid of his arrival, since that would disrupt his life with Elsa, and that was something that Luka wasn’t ready for. Knowing that, Stefan only had to wait for the opportunity to approach Elsa and take her out of the party, so he could talk to her in private and tell her everything he couldn’t tell her during all those long years.

  “Well, I’ll leave you two to it. I’m going to have a drink with my niece.”

  With that, Stefan turned around and left with two glasses in his hands. Elsa watched him leave like in slow motion, as if she were counting the steps that took him away from her. She saw him hug his niece, smiling in his own special way. She watched everything while Luka stared at her astonished, knowing he would lose her for good if he didn’t do anything.

  “If you want, I can give you a napkin,” he mentioned.

  Elsa frowned and fixed him with her blue eyes.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, bothered by his comment.

  “I mean you have been looking at him even after he stopped doing it. I mean I have noticed you will love him forever, no matter what. I mean that…”

  “Say no more, Luka,” she interrupted him.

  “No, don’t tell me to shut up, Elsa. We have already gone through this, remember? He will always be inside your heart. Stefan was the love of your life and even a blind person would see you are his.” He fell silent and then sighed. “I’m afraid to lose you, Elsa. And I’m sure that’s what will happen after tonight, because the past always comes back and your past is right there, across the room.”

  “It’s true. He is my past, and I’m sure he will become my present if he stays here. But I don’t think he could be my future because my family would never accept it. They didn’t like it then and I don’t think they will agree now, Luka. And I…” She sobbed. “I need to forget everything we lived so I can be happy.”

  The sound of a glass breaking against the floor and someone yelling an anguished “What?” made them turn around. They realized they shouldn’t have had that conversation right there. Elsa’s father had heard everything and his world crumbled after knowing that Elsa and Stefan had been involved, and knowing her daughter’s current feelings for Stefan. A man who was eight years older than her and, besides, at the time when everything started she had been underage. He had always had doubts about the reasons why his brother-in-law had left, but he had just put two and two together.

  “Dad, wait,” Elsa called him with a strangled whisper.

  But her father didn’t comply. He needed to let his anger burst. The memories of every detail that made him think his daughter had fallen in love entered his mind. He never asked who he was, and he never let her know he thought she felt something for a guy. He should have never ignored that matter.

  Leonard stormed towards Stefan as if he were crazy and, after grabbing him by the collar of his shirt to make him stand up from his chair, punched him with all his might, making Stefan fall to the ground with a bloody lip.

  “You are nothing but a son of a bitch and a pervert!” Leonard yelled. All the guests were staring at the impromptu show.

  Corina and Alicia crouched to help Stefan, and Elsa held her father back. It was the worst thing she could do. Leonard turned to see who was grabbing him and he felt like dying when he saw the disappointment in his daughter’s eyes.

  Without a second thought, he slapped her.

  “I never thought I would feel disgust upon seeing you,” he hissed, hurting her.

  “I won’t let you treat your daughter like that, Leonard,” Stefan intervened once he could stand up.

  His brother-in-law, unable to believe he could defend his daughter when he had just punched him, turned to face him and yell everything that crossed his mind, not giving a shit it was his stepdaughter’s wedding.

  Stefan was ready for the worst; another punch, maybe? He didn’t even care to be insulted. The only thing he wanted was for Leonard to stop hitting Elsa, yelling words that hurt her. Just because she had fallen in love, he didn’t have to make her feel like a whore who bedded any man. He loved her so much he would fight against Satan himself if he could save her from more attacks.

  “Do you think you have enough balls as to tell me how to treat my own daughter?” Leonard asked him with an anguished tone. “Do you think that’s what you must do?” Stefan opened his mouth to reply. “No, I will tell you what you have to do. Don’t touch my daughter. You already did and I never knew it, but I won’t let it happen again. She is my daughter! She is my little girl! What the fuck were you thinking when you seduced her?”

  Leonard was out of his wits, yelling stuff that didn’t make any sense, and Elsa couldn’t bear it any longer.

  “It wasn’t like that, dad! Stefan
didn’t seduce me. We both did!” Her father hit her again. “You can slap me as much as you want, but that won’t prevent me from telling you what happened.”

  Elsa touched his cheek where he had slapped her. The stupid tears kept flowing. Luka tried to get closer, but Elsa didn’t let him do that, walking towards Stefan. It sounded like nonsense after such a long time, but now, after they had reunited, they couldn’t ignore what they were still feeling, because they never stopped feeling it.

  Leonard was looking at her with the same disgust in his eyes, hurting her deeply. Although it would hurt her even more to be separated again from the man she loved.

  “You can’t, Elsa,” her father expressed, now a bit calmer.

  “You are wrong, dad. I couldn’t and I let him go.” She wiped her tears with an angry gesture. “It was me who asked Stefan to leave four years ago. It was me who wasn’t brave enough as to let him fight for us because I knew how you would react. Corina and Alicia had warned me then, but we continued seeing each other in secret.

  Before she finished the sentence, she regretted it. Even though she hadn’t wanted to betray Corina and Alicia, her father would have ended up knowing they had known from the beginning.

  “You knew?” His question was for Corina, but she didn’t reply. “You knew?” She nodded, looking down sheepishly.

  Leonard started pacing around, feeling anguished, feeling breathless, feeling how his chest tightened, making him fall unconscious. Elsa and Corina ran to him as fast as they could to see what had happened while Alicia called an ambulance. He needed immediate medical care. Time was of the essence if they didn’t want to celebrate another funeral in their family.

  London. 2017

  Elsa was sitting in a bar, enjoying a sherbet while watching people walking by. It was a normal Sunday and she was meeting Alicia, since it had been quite a while since the last time they had seen each other. After that night, their relationship had changed drastically and they barely talked to each other.

  Twenty minutes later, she was focusing on her mobile phone when someone touched her shoulder, startling her.

  Elsa turned around and she opened her eyes widely. She was completely astonished.

  “Hi, Elsa. It’s been a long time.”

  Luka gave her a kiss in the cheek and sat right next to her.

  “Luka! What are you doing here?”

  He smiled when he saw she was still the same girl, and her smile was the same that one day had trapped him, making it impossible for him to forget about her. Although they had kept in touch because Alicia and Gian had a relationship, it wasn’t the same as meeting in person.

  “If the mountain won’t go to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain. Am I right? You know I have always wanted to come here, and I got a job offer I couldn’t resist,” Luka explained with a smile.

  After that meeting, their lives started changing, making them be more than friends. Luka did everything he could to make her happy, but he couldn’t make her forget. That was much more complicated to achieve.

  A few months later, after a birthday party, he asked her to have a relationship. At the beginning, Elsa couldn’t accept a different man in her life since she couldn’t forget about Stefan. However, after giving it some thought, she agreed. And thus she decided to move on with her life. Her heart was beating again, although not as fast… although not for love. But it was beating again.

  Chapter 23

  London. 2019

  Hours passed by slowly, and her anguish to know about her father’s state was growing steady. She wished the hands of the clock could go as fast as her heart, because then they would have already heard from the doctors.

  When she saw him dropping to the floor, it was like a part of her was reliving her mother’s death, seeing everything happen like in slow motion. Everybody tried to comfort her, talking to her and asking her how she was feeling, but she didn’t want to be with anybody. She felt too guilty for what had happened and she was fully aware that everything would end if her father died.

  She stood up, exhausted to be in the same position as when she first arrived at the hospital, and headed towards Alicia, who was just arriving from her house, where she had gone to change her clothes.

  “Hi. Can I sit here?” She nodded and Elsa sat next to her. “Ali, I… I’m sorry for all that’s happened. I ruined your day.” She looked down. “I am always ruining everything.”

  Alicia took her hand and squeezed it.

  “Don’t be so hard with yourself, Elsa. It’s not your fault that your father learnt everything today. It could have been worse, believe me.” She rolled her eyes to make her laugh for a couple of seconds.

  “It’s true. If he had known when everything started… I don’t even want to think about what he would have done.”

  They stayed quiet for a moment, both of them reflecting on what she had just said, being absolutely honest with herself. To be honest, it would have been chaos if her father had known about her and Stefan years ago. He would have put an end to that relationship in a different way and it would have been Elsa the one who suffered the most.

  Right at that moment, Stefan arrived to the waiting room. His gaze looked for her among all the people there, and he spotted her when she looked up and fixed her eyes on him.

  Alicia noticed that, what they still felt, and realized she was tired of fighting against a love like theirs. She encouraged Elsa to go to him.

  “Are you sure, Ali? Doesn’t it bother you?” Elsa asked insecurely.

  “I’m tired, Elsa. And I think it’s impossible to keep trying to separate you when it is clear you will continue loving each other no matter what. I think I always knew that.” She sighed and Elsa frowned. “It was me who asked my uncle to be the best man when I could have asked your father instead. It was me who separated you two and who will… Come on, go.”

  “Thanks, Alicia. I will talk to him, but I think everything ended that night. There are too many things to discuss.”

  Elsa hugged her stepsister, considering settled the problem that always existed between them. Alicia didn’t hate Elsa or her uncle just because they were having a secret relationship. Her problem was having to accept something she knew her mother wouldn’t let go. To her, being angry with her mother was something quite serious. Sometimes we are mistaken and it is our parents’ fault, because parents can also be wrong.

  She walked towards Stefan while he stayed in the same position as when he entered. Luka was at the other side of the waiting room with Gian, watching how the woman he loved headed towards another man’s arms. He always knew that would happen. He always knew the past always came back sooner or later. In this case, it had arrived sooner than expected.

  “Hi,” she muttered. “Can you take me out of here?” she asked, holding back her tears.

  “That’s why I came here, my love.”

  Stefan took her hand and pulled her with him; Luka pulled to his feet to prevent her from leaving.

  “Don’t do it, Luka. Don’t you see she wants to be with him?” Gian intervened.

  “How can you ask me to let her go with another man? I cannot let him come in here and take her from under my nose.”

  “She was never yours and you always knew that. Let her be happy now. I’m sorry it has to be me the one who tells you, brother, but Elsa never loved you.”

  Luka sat again and, silently, watched her leave the room so she could be alone with him. Stupid tears appeared in his eyes, accepting everything his best friend had told him. She was never his and he always knew it, but a part of him always wanted to believe he might have her soul… because you can give your body to anybody.

  Stefan took Elsa out of the hospital, heading to a car he had rented. When he arrived to London, he didn’t think of staying longer than necessary, unless she asked him to, but taking into account the circumstances, he was forced to get a vehicle. He opened the car door for her and then he entered through the driver’s door. Under her inquisitive gaze, he started the c
ar.

  He didn’t know why, but something was telling him that reconciliation was a crucial turning point for them and, when everything was over, they should decide what to do. Stefan had something clear, something he knew as soon as their eyes connected in the church: he wasn’t going to let her go again. He wouldn’t let everything be broken forever because he would be broken too. He didn’t know she was thinking exactly the same at that moment.

  “I…” they said at the same time, and they both smiled.

  Elsa couldn’t help feeling nervous. Although she wasn’t that little girl who died to be in his arms, she still felt how her body heated up when Stefan looked at her. After all, she was still dying to be in his arms.

  “You go first, please,” she said almost inaudible.

  “Okay.” Elsa bit her lower lip and wished it would be him who bit it. “I’m so sorry for everything that’s going on. If I hadn’t come…”

  Elsa covered his hand over the steering wheel. Stefan looked at her when he stopped at a red light. He felt an irrepressible wish to kiss her, of holding her tight against his chest so she could never leave again. He wanted to take her away from everything and everybody, so they could finally be as happy as they deserved to be. Because they had been victims of their families. Because they should have gone on without caring about anything but their feelings. But they didn’t do it and, although it might be late to pick it up where they left it, it really wasn’t because their love was still there, latent and hopeful.

  They got lost in their eyes for a moment and Stefan started to lean in to kiss her as he had dreamt to do, as he remembered. Although sometimes it was difficult for him to hold the memory of her lips’ taste; it was something he had forgotten because of the passing of time.