Timeless love

by Priscila Serrano

  A car’s horn interrupted the perfect moment when he almost kissed her. He straightened his back reluctantly and stepped on the gas to get out of there. He didn’t know where to take her; he just wanted to be alone with her.

  “I’m so sorry everything happened like that. I’m so sorry we had to go through all of this, Stefan. I feel everything is my fault. If that night…”

  He couldn’t take it any more and, lifting his hand to make her stop talking, parked the car in the first empty spot he could find. After that, he leaned towards her and kissed her without caring about the consequences of their acts.

  This time, she was expecting it. In fact, she had wished it since she saw him appear in the hospital. Stefan cupped her cheeks and noticed the tears that wetted the perfect skin he had kissed so many times in the past. He pulled apart so he could watch her and pressed his forehead against hers.

  “Don’t cry, my love. My soul breaks when I see you cry,” he expressed with that sweetness that she loved and remembered so much.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing. You are guilty of nothing. It’s not your fault that I left four years ago.” He pulled apart a bit more. “I should have stayed to fight for you.”

  “I didn’t let you do it.”

  “I didn’t have to listen to you,” he replied, making her smile. “You don’t know how many nights I have spent without you, thinking of you, and thinking of how much of a coward I was.” Elsa put a finger on his lips and he kissed it.

  Now it was him who was crying, who realized he didn’t deserve that woman loved him as much as she did. Elsa adored him with that strong love that filled her chest when she was just sixteen. He was the first man who touched her, who loved her. He was the only one who managed to enter her body and her soul.

  “It will be different this time. I know it will,” she claimed. “Because as much as they try to separate us, I won’t let them do it, Stefan. I love you too much as to allow that, and it has taken me four years to realize you are the only one who kisses my soul and my body at the same time…”

  “I love you too, Elsa. Much more than years ago. Much more than what I believed it was possible.” He kissed her again, sealing that turning point in a relationship that seemed to be in a coma.

  They spent together as much time as they could, thinking just about them. When they were planning to go to his apartment so they could be together, Elsa’s phone started ringing. Corina’s incoming call sounded desperate, since it never stopped ringing once and once again. She remembered her father was still in the hospital, because she forgot about time when she was with him. She picked it up to listen what she had to say.

  “Elsa, I need you to come to the hospital. Where are you?”

  “I am ten minutes away. What’s going on? Tell me my father is fine, please.”

  “Yes, honey. Of course he is fine. Your father is a strong man. The reason why I’m calling you is because he wants to talk to you. To both of you.”

  A heartbreaking sigh got a grip of her chest, making her heart beat like crazy. Her father wanted to see them and that couldn’t be good, that she knew for sure.

  “Are you okay? Let’s head there.”

  She explained to Stefan what his sister had said and, with all the courage he should muster to prove more than ever what he had said just a few minutes earlier, he agreed and started the car to go back to the hospital.

  They were both very nervous. But they weren’t scared they wouldn’t be able to be together. For the first time in their lives, that was the least of their problems. They were afraid that something would happen to Leonard when he knew they would be together forever. Nothing and nobody would separate them now.

  London. 2019

  They could finally breathe normally. Things were like they should be at last… No, it was even better than before. Now they didn’t have to hide and that was something they had always dreamt.

  Stefan thought he would regret going to London, since it was a mistake to go back knowing he would see her so close and so far at the same time, unable to even hug her as if she were a long lost relative. Because doing it was to be dead in life and reveal what he felt for that girl who became a woman. And that woman was more beautiful every day.

  And now he could breathe again. Now his heart was beating with the same frenzy as before. And now he could be sure they would love each other for more than a thousand days, a thousand months, and a thousand years. He understood it now.

  Chapter 24

  London. 2019

  The arrival to the hospital would be quite the catastrophe. Stefan didn’t want to enter the room because he knew that his brother-in-law was on the warpath. His sister had warned him beforehand, telling him, “Good luck, little brother. He is ready to bite.” Her words prevented him to be eager to go. But Elsa didn’t let him do it. This time, both of them would face the music without caring how angry her father was. Nothing else mattered but them.

  Alicia smiled, feeling pleased to check her stepsister had finally taken the bull by the horns, even though she had been one of the people who kept her separated from Stefan. She always regretted the way she acted, and that was why she had told Elsa years ago.

  That day was one of those days that Elsa tried to avoid the most. She had to meet again with Alicia after months filled with memories and anxiety. But she couldn’t tell her father and Corina she didn’t want to see her stepsister because she was the one who made her fall in a deep depression that didn’t let her sleep. She had the same recurrent nightmare once and once again. Remembering endlessly the moment when she saw Stefan abandoning her, leaving her alone in that house that disgusted her more every day. It wasn’t the house, but the people living in it.

  “Elsa, are you awake?”

  Her father’s voice woke her up.

  “Now I am,” she replied angrily.

  “I’m sorry. I just wanted to tell you that Alicia is downstairs and wants to see you. Can I let her come upstairs?”

  Elsa thought about it for a second and felt her blood boiling, making her furious. Maybe it was a good idea to see her. After all, she had never yelled at her how much she had hurt her. She nodded and her father left the room with a smile to go in search of Alicia.

  A few minutes later, her stepsister was sitting opposite her with a worried smile.

  “Thank you for letting me see you. I thought that…”

  “Don’t talk, please. If I let you come upstairs was to tell you how I feel. And right now I hate you, Alicia. You don’t know how much I’m suffering and it is all your fault,” she interrupted her, provoking the appearance of the stupid tears.

  “Forgive me, Elsa. I’m truly sorry. I regret everything I did and I feel horrible for having forced you to get away from Stefan. I know how much you love him and I know he is also suffering for you.”.

  It was the only time she heard something about Stefan, and she suffered even more when she knew he wasn’t having the best of times as well. Elsa thought she would hate him for being unable to come back and fight for them. How wrong she was, and how much she loved him.

  Elsa looked at Alicia and she smiled. Unexpectedly, she ran to her sister, because that was how she felt, and hugged her, thanking life for having her.

  “I love you so much, Ali.”

  “I love you too, little sister.”

  She kissed her cheek and, when they pulled apart, Alicia approached her uncle to tell him something. Some advice wouldn’t be a bad idea after all, right?

  “I hope you can fight for her this time. Fight for you. I don’t want to see you suffer. I don’t want to kick your ass, uncle.” Stefan burst out laughing and couldn’t help but give her a big hug. “You have my blessing.”

  Elsa hugged her again and, when they pulled apart, she walked with Stefan to her father’s bedroom. Corina walked with them in absolute silence, but before they entered she blocked the doorway, feeling obligated to tell them something. She thought that maybe it wasn’t the mome
nt. She knew she could have said it earlier or, at least, she should have supported their relationship from the start. It was never late.

  “What’s wrong, Corina?”

  Elsa was worried and tried to make her move away from the door.

  “Wait, Elsa. Nothing is wrong. Your father is fine, believe me.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s just that I want to apologize. I want to ask for your forgiveness, brother. I know I was unfair to you, but it was because I thought you weren’t really in love with her. I was wrong.” She lowered her head.

  “You don’t have to apologize to me, Corina. I didn’t understand at that moment, but time made me see you were doing it for a good reason, even though that reason separated me from her.”

  He put his arm around Elsa’s waist and pulled her close to his body.

  Elsa leaned her head towards him, placing her head under his chin. Stefan felt his chest full with just that little gesture, even though they weren’t in the best circumstances.

  Corina looked at them and felt her insides churning. It was her regret. She felt so guilty that it was hurting her. She wanted to be sure that, even if Leonard demanded they put an end to their relationship, they wouldn’t do it. They had to follow their hearts.

  “Corina, nothing will separate us this time, I assure you,” Stefan said, squeezing Elsa’s hand to enter the room occupied by her furious father.

  Leonard, as soon as he saw his daughter holding hands with Stefan, felt rage flooding every inch of his body.

  “Do you dare to come here holding my daughter’s hand?” he spat, spewing poisonous words at them. “Let go of him right this moment, Elsa,” he hissed.

  Elsa shook her head, getting closer to Stefan, showing nothing would make her change her mind, no matter what he said. Leonard wished he could get up from the bed so he could beat them up and drag her daughter by the hair if that was what it took to make her get away from Stefan. However, his medication made him feel weak and dizzy. His heart attack hadn’t been too serious, just a warning of what could happen if he continued with that foul mood. He had never behaved like that, but the stress caused by his job and what had happened made everything explode in his head.

  “No, dad, you won’t make me leave him. You must understand…”

  “No!” he yelled, interrupting her. “You need to understand he is your uncle and…”

  “You are wrong, dad. Stefan is not my uncle and he never was. The fact you married his sister doesn’t turn him into my uncle. Stefan is the man I have always loved and the one I will love for the rest of my life. If you are unable to see it, you must be blind,” she said, finally getting angry with her father. She would tell him everything that was crossing her mind.

  Her father fell silent, looking at them with all the anger he started feeling when he learnt everything that had happened between them when his daughter was still underage. Leonard couldn’t believe they were unable to see it wasn’t normal. He had thought a lot about that question, fully aware that nothing mattered, especially now that his daughter was an adult. He couldn’t forbid her to be with whomever she had chosen, and if Stefan was the man she loved, then she would be with him even if he didn’t approve of that. But that didn’t mean that he had to accept it, so he would let them know it. He would let them know how much he hated the fact of knowing they were in love.

  “I’m unable to picture something that has no future. I’m sorry, Elsa. I cannot accept that you are in love with Stefan. So if you are thinking of going on with this relationship…” His words trailed off, knowing what he was about to say would hurt him more than it would hurt her. “If you are going to continue being with him, you are not my daughter any longer.”

  She wasn’t expecting such a statement. She didn’t think her father was going to pretend she didn’t exist just because she was dating someone he didn’t approve of. So what happened now? She didn’t have a father? That was how it would end?

  “You are not talking seriously, dad. You are being unfair,” she said between sobs.

  “Quite seriously.”

  “Leonard, think about it, please,” Stefan intervened.

  Leonard glared at him, showing how much disgust he felt for him.

  “You don’t get an opinion. Everything is your fault.”

  Stefan wanted to stay calm, wanted to behave as he wished, trying with his attitude to make his brother-in-law to come into terms with their relationship. But it was clear it wouldn’t matter. It was clear he didn’t mind his daughter’s feelings. He got angry with Leonard, with himself, and with the whole world at that moment. Why was it so complicated to be with the person you loved? Why everyone put obstacles when they had to support them? They weren’t kids who had to be punished without playing with their favorite toy. They were talking of love, of having a full-on relationship with someone, of being with someone you would put your own life at risk to protect. Was it so difficult to accept that?

  “I’m sorry you cannot understand it, Leonard. Believe me, I tried to move on and forget the love I feel for your daughter…” Leonard tried to interrupt him, but he didn’t let him do it. “No, you’ve said enough and now it’s my turn.”

  “I don’t give a shit.”

  “Dad, shut up!” Elsa was beyond frustrated.

  So Leonard fell silent. He just did it because his daughter had never, ever, talked to him like that.

  “I love her. I don’t care if it bothers you or disgusts you; I love your daughter. And I’m truly sorry that all of this is happening and you are in the hospital. Is it my fault? I don’t know. I’m just telling you that this time I won’t run away, I will fight for her so I can be with her and make her as happy as she deserves. As we both deserve. You married my sister. And you know what?” Leonard didn’t reply. “I didn’t want my sister to get married to a man who had just lost his previous wife one year earlier. How do you think I felt when she went ahead and did what she wanted to do no matter what?”

  “Stop it, Stefan,” Elsa expressed, worried about her father.

  “No, I won’t stop. Not now that I can tell him everything without fearing he would punch me again.”

  Elsa sighed and nodded, staying silent. Leonard was staring in front of him, avoiding making eye contact with them. Avoiding looking at the couple that disgusted him so much.

  “I hated my sister during long months for having accepted to marry you, but then I supported her because that’s what families do. I hope you can value that and support your daughter. You don’t have to see me if you don’t want to, but don’t forbid your daughter to have a relationship with you.”

  “Have you finished?” Leonard asked, raising an eyebrow with a smug face.

  Stefan nodded, realizing he could say a thousand things more, explaining a thousand reasons for their relationship, but Leonard had already made his mind. He just had to wait for Elsa’s reaction to know whether she would be with him, whether they had a future together.

  “I don’t care what you did, but I appreciate that you supported your sister.”

  A sliver of hope entered Elsa’s heart. And it disappeared when her father opened his mouth again to spew all the crap his heart was feeling at that moment.

  “But no, I cannot accept this,” he pointed at them. “And if you continue seeing him, just forget about me, Elsa.”

  She pouted, trying not to bite them with rage. She thought for a second about what her father had just said, trying to calm down and cool down because, if she replied to her father in that instant, she would regret her words automatically.

  She turned around and looked at Stefan for a few seconds, making him shiver in fear. For a moment, he thought she would leave him. But she didn’t. She cupped his cheek and kissed his lips with all the love she could muster. When they pulled apart, she turned to look at her father and thus reply to the nonsense he had been saying.

  “Then I just became an orphan, Leonard. I don’t plan to let go of the love of my life for the second time.”

  With th
at, Elsa grabbed her boyfriend’s hand and left the room without looking back, avoiding every contact that could make her waver. She had made her mind; she’d had four years to think about it with a cold head. She always knew her father would react in that way and part of her understood him.

  Once they got out, Stefan made her stop in the corridor, before being seen by anyone, and hugged her tight. His heart was beating wildly, and he needed the blast of fresh air that only her could give him.

  Elsa looked at him when they pulled apart and saw that Stefan was crying.

  “Thank you. Thank you for being strong enough and stay with me. Thank you for showing me again the reason why I fell in love with you, Elsa. I love you with all my heart.”

  Elsa wiped his tears with the tip of her fingers and kissed his cheeks, fully aware of the healing power of her little kisses.

  “Thank you for making me stronger. I couldn’t have made it without you.”

  Stefan smiled, pleased and proud of her. Proud of the woman she had become. Proud of his woman, because she was his.

  They walked back to the waiting room and, before they arrived there, Elsa stopped him.

  “What’s wrong?” he said worried.

  “I forgot to tell you I love you too.”

  London. 2019

  Now it was her who breathed normally. Now she felt she could smile again without fearing people could think she smiled for him. She smiled for him and she didn’t have to hide it any more. The mere fact of being with Stefan at last was a reason to be happy, although that happiness had meant to lose her father. He wanted it that way and, being selfish, she was thinking for the first time in herself instead of in her family.

  It should be clear that one’s happiness should be first and foremost, the most essential thing. It was also important to know when your heart was beating strongly for someone. When you realized that, you knew you had chosen the right thing, and you didn’t care what other people would say or how many obstacles you found in your path. You just had to jump. Jump without looking back, without being aware what you might lose.