A decade later

Before you read: This post won't turn out to be a very good one, as I'm not all that great at writing stories with dialogues and stuff. So kindly overlook any mistakes that I am sure to have made... and enjoy the story as best as you can :)


It was a slow Friday day at office. At about 5'o clock, Matt made the final call to Ray to take care of the air conditioner at the Alpha Street restaurant. He rearranged his messy desk artfully, a habit he learned from his wife. Though it hadn't been a busy week, he still looked forward to spending the weekend with his son and wife. The latter was eight months pregnant now, and was spending  vast majority of her time playing with their four-year-old son and learning to cook new dishes, as always. Matt was a foodie, and Elena loved feeding him.

Matt said goodbye to his colleagues and set off home by foot, his car being under service. He was turning away from beach road, in the direction of his home, when somebody tapped him on his shoulder from behind. He turned around and found a young man who looked around 30 years old smiling at him.

"Matt Madison?" he said.

"Yes," Matt replied

"I'm Harry Harlan", said the young man, holding out his hand.

"Hello," he said politely, shaking Harry's hand.

"How's your life going?" asked Harry.

"Er, fine, thank you." said Matt. "Do we know each other?"

"You don't know me, but I think you knew my friend. Her name was Susan. Do you remember her?"

Something unpleasant trickled down Matt's insides when he heard that name, followed by a million memories. Of course he remembered her... Susan Pacquin. She was just one of the many women who he did not like to remember, but there was no denying that, after his mother and before his marriage to Elena, she was the one woman whom he had let on into his life. But not anymore. He had realized how wrong he was about her only during a critical period of his life, and he was glad that he did not have to put up with her anymore after that.

Maybe his dislike had shown on his face, because Harry said, "I can see that you remember her,"

"Yes." Matt said stiffly. He had not dreamed that he would have to meet an acquaintance of the girl he was once in love with. If Elena ever found out...

Harry smiled, as though he knew exactly what was going through his mind. "Don't worry, I'm not here to destroy your family or anything,"

"Then why are you here? I don't remember her mentioning having a friend called Harry," he said harshly. Then he added, "Of course, you may have been one of the many things that she didn't let me know about."

"Maybe," Harry sighed. "Will you walk with me for a few minutes?"

Matt was taken aback and rather irritated that a friend of Susan wanted to talk to him. But, out of common courtesy, he did not turn the young man down. "Sure," he said.

Harry smiled, gestured towards Beach Road and started walking in silence. Matt hesitated for a second, and followed him. The sandy shores were bathed in golden sunlight, and a few kids ran here and there, while some others kicked energetically at the surf. Young couples sat in secluded corners, trying to blend in with the rocks. He remembered Susan saying that they would never be able to stay like that, though he never understood why. But it turned out to be true anyway, because of her nature. She was never able to understand him - she was never a comfort for him, and always hurt him, physically and mentally. They were only a few months away from getting married when he broke off their year-long engagement shortly after he was forced to sell his house in Tennessee, and things got worse between them. He did not know where she was now, and he preferred for them to stay that way. He hoped that Harry was not here to break his peaceful life with Elena and Toby.

He was about to open his mouth and ask Harry why he was here, when Harry stopped near a stone bench.

"Please sit down," he said, doing the same.

Matt sat. "Why are you here?" he repeated.

"Relax, Matthew," Harry said, smiling again. "I told you, I'm not here to destroy your perfect life with Elena and Toby. She's pregnant, isn't she? Congratulations."

"How - how do you know all this?" Matt spluttered, stunned.

"Oh, just friendly with the neighbors," Harry replied, shrugging. "You neighbor David Joshua happens to be a very good friend of mine and Susan's. That's how I found you here."

"Hmm," Matt said, uncomfortable. He did not like the thought of having anything to do with Susan living so close to him.

Maybe Harry understood this as well, because he said, "Listen, Matt - I know you have a very bad impression of Susan right now, and you may have have good reason for feeling so. But I want you to know that all those things that you think she was - they're all wrong, because she never was all that. Trust me, I know."

Matt's eyes narrowed. "You don't know anything. Mr Harlan, she tried to feed me some some cock-and-bull story about my family trying to round on me because I was doing financially better back then, and tried to pry me away from them. She never understood me. She never made me happy. She never cared."

Harry smiled yet again, but there was a slight disappointment in his eyes and the way his lips curved. " Matt, that cock-and-bull story she said turned out to be true, didn't it? You family did round on you."

He froze for a second. Harry was right... his family had disinherited him. "Maybe. But - "

"'She never understood'," Harry quoted. "It's true. But she took a very long time to understand people - it's not just you. It's just the way she was. I knew her very well, Matt - so believe me when I say that she loved you more than she's loved anyone else in this world. She cared for you the most. There have been a lot of nights when she cried herself to sleep, thinking about you, before and after you left her. My wife was her best friend, you see," he added in question to Matt's suspicious glance.

"You wife 'was' her best friend? Isn't she still?" he asked, slightly shaken from Harry's words - he realized that he knew they were true. Susan had indeed loved him the most.

Harry sighed. "Do you remember all those times when she said that she wouldn't be able to live without you?" he asked, looking into Matt's eyes.

"Yes," Matt replied hesitantly.

"Those weren't just words, Matt. She'd meant what she said."

"What?"

Harry looked piercingly into his eyes, and then, after a few seconds, it hit him with the force of a speeding truck. His stomach lurched, and his breath blew out in a gust.

"W-what?" he whispered.

Harry looked away from him into the setting sun. "She went into depression after you broke off your engagement with her. Her family put in an enormous effort to help her recover, but it just didn't work. She was drained of all emotion except that of her love for you. Soon she began to lose weight rapidly. Six months in, she weighed just 55 pounds. Nobody knew what to do."

Matt listened in breathless, horror-struck silence as Harry continued.

"We took her everywhere, tried everything - she didn't change. But then, she began talking a little while later. We thought that she was getting over it. And it seemed so - she began eating a little better, did things that she used to do. Then, a year and a half later, just past her 22nd birthday, her mind began to crumble again. But it wasn't as bad as before. She did spend most of the day crying, but she remained somewhat healthy. One night in September - one the eve of the third anniversary of you guys' engagement, actually - she told my wife how great a guy you were. How you loved her and put up with all of her stubbornness and gave her a new life, and made her feel special. She told her how God had given her someone so wonderful, someone she saw as her father, brother, friend and lover, but that she'd destroyed everything. But she still wanted you to be safe and happy, Matt. It's all that she ever wanted." Harry sighed.

Matt was frozen to his seat, his insides having gotten heavier and heavier with each mental picture Harry's words drew for him. While Susan had been withering, he, Matthew, was falling in love with the perfect Elena Watson, his mother's friend's daughter.

"She hoped that you'd fall in love again," Harry continued, looking at Matt again, "she prayed to God daily that you'd find a beautiful girl who could take care of you better than even your mother. And that she would be able to cook, in particular." he added, a sad smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "It was her final prayer that night, too, before she went to bed. I guess she got her wish. But she never woke up again. She died in her sleep that night. She was buried with the engagement ring that you'd put on her finger. She never took it off, not once."

Matt's heart spluttered in response to Harry's final words... " She was buried with the engagement ring that you put on her finger. She never took it off, not once." His breath began to come in great gasps, his eyes tightening.

"Your grief won't do her any good now, Matt. You built her up, and you broke her down. It comes down to you." Harry paused, as Matt's insides seared. "But I won't hate you. You gave her the best times of her life, and also the worst. We're leaving you as you are because Susan loved you beyond anything in this world. It was her wish that you be safe and happy forever. We'll abide by it - no harm will come to you or your family as long as we exist."

Harry stood up and straightened his jacket. Matt couldn't move. "Goodbye, Matthew. You won't see us again. But we'll be around."

With that, Harry walked away from him. Matt stared at his own feet sheathed in Adidas socks and Marks and Spencer leather shoes for a few seconds, then turned his head and gazed after Harry's figure. He had joined a group of people standing at the edge of the beach, near the street. He thought he recognized one of those people - a woman with pale skin and long dark hair resembling Susan. The woman he had once called "aunt" and then "mom", and then stowed away in a dark corner of his mind, along with the memories of the now-dead girl who he loved - Susan's mother.

P.S.:

"You built her up, and you broke her down" was inspired by the lyrics of Kesha's song "Tik Tok" from the album Animal.