Sunset
I remember my first sunset in the middle of the summer season. The mountains devoured the blissful sun as it hid behind them, and showed how much it cherished the ones who looked her way by flashing her rich, youthful colors. The sun glistened with radiant reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows. One of the most incredible sights I have ever seen, besides Samira. She was just as beautiful then as she is now. Her enchanting long black hair, dark olive skin, big stunning mesmerizing green eyes, with lashes as long as daffodil petals, and her lips, they were lips of an angel, curved to perfection and full of sweet passion. Samira was just out of dreams. She had an'incredible strength of self and could be strong for anyone that could not be strong enough for themselves.
I remember our first sunset together. She sat there on top of a boulder with her knees to her chest and her chin on her knees. When the wind would blow ever so gently, it would make her dark, gleaming hair dance in the sweet summer air. I even recall our whole conversation about nothing in particular. We spoke about the latest movie that came out, most recent music that was released, and book that we both most recently read. We could talk for hours and hours on end about nothing.
Samira was and still is everything to me. Every weekend it would be just her and 1. We were inseparable. Every time we met up at out meeting place, usually a coffee shop, she would say, "What's on schedule today, Vik?" That's what she called me, Vik, short for Victor. She even took it to a different level and spelled it with a k instead of a c. That is absolutely like her to change things to her liking. I think that is what made me love her so.
On one of our sunset trips in the middle of the desert, Samira turned to me and looked deeply into my eyes and said, "I never want to lose you, no matter what happens, ok?"
"You will never lose me. I'll be here for you through thick and thin, I promise, that's what friends are for," I said to her. The next day she announced that she was engaged. My heart sunk to the pit of my empty stomach. 1 cared and loved her so much and believed that no one was suitable for her.
Months passed and I met her fiance, Seth, a business man. He seemed so far fetched and distanced, as if he did not care much for anything or anyone that was important in Samira's life. She married him and may I add, regardless of what 1 thought of Seth, the wedding was incredibly amazing and stunning. It was a wedding straight out of a fairy tale. She looked like a princess walking down the aisle and like a queen at the dance afterward. She wore a long white satin dress, the upper part of the dress had designs of the Victorian Era with lace intertwined in the front and back with tiny white pearls sewn on all the around the edges. Samira wore long elbow length satin gloves, satin shoes (to match the dress) and her amazing hair was curled and pinned up in the shape of a half moon with small flowers placed ever so sweetly in her dark, black, gleaming hair. Her veil was of a see through material, lined with satin to compliment her gown. The veil was attached at the bottom of her hairdo. 1 could tell the night was so magical to her.
I was even there at the birth of her daughter, Zahra. Seth was away on a business trip and that left me in charge of my Samira. I could not imagine how exquisite and fragile her daughter was. She had the same olive skin and big hypnotizing eyes. Besides Samira and the sunsets, Zahra was the most wonderful creature I had ever laid my eyes on.
Everything was perfect in Samira's life until about two years ago. She called me sobbing hysterically at three in the morning saying something about Seth. I could not tell if she was saying something happened to him or he did something to her. I rushed to her home on the desert hill side, about a thirty minute drive, and got there in ten minutes flat. She was outside covering her face with her hands, weeping and crying as though someone had died.
I sat down next to her and asked, "Where's Zahra? Is she alright?"
She replied, "She's doing all right," still sniveling. I asked her what happened.
She began crying even harder, shielding her face. Her upper body dropped next to mine. I held her, trying to comfort her. An hour passed and we were silent sitting outside. I noticed Seth's car was in the drive-way. I asked her again, "What happened, Samira? Where's Seth? I'm here for you remember my promise, through thick and thin."
"I know ... he left. I am just so humiliated. I can't believe I didn't see it before. I never told you anything because I didn't want you to hate him," she said still looking down.
"You have to tell me what's wrong. You can"t hide it from me. You have to tell me. I'll help you and Zahra if you needed it, you know that."
"It's Seth. I found out that his out of town trips haven't been through the company. It was to see his to see ... his ," she cried some more. I held her until she was ready to speak again, " to see his girlfriend. Before we got married he was with her and me, but he said he chose me over her. Come to find out today, he didn't break it off. He's still with her. I confronted him and ... " She revealed to me what she had been hiding. Her right eye was swollen shut. It looked as though she had put on a dark purple patch right on top of it. I shook my head and held her close, stroking her hair. I kissed the top of her head and told her that I'll be there for her and if she needed help, I would help her get through this.
She hugged me and kissed my cheek and said, "Thank you. Thank you, Vik." "You don't want to come and stay the night, just for tonight?" I asked.
"No, I'm fine now. Really, thank you though," she said.
We said our good-byes and I went back home. Everything seemed to have settled and go back to normal. Six months passed when my cell phone rang while I was at work.
"Hello?"
"Hello, may I speak with Victor Kennedy?" "Speaking. "
"Hi, I'm Dan from St. Joseph's Hospital. I'm calling on behalf of Samira Burr. She wants you to know that she has been admitted. Her daughter is with her mother and says not to worry. She does ask for your presence here."
"I'll be there right away! St. Joseph's right? What room number?" "That's correct and the room number is 207."
"207. Thank you."
We hung up. I raced to St. Joseph's Hospital and rushed to room 207. When I saw her, I just wanted to rupture into tears. He face was bandaged up and she could scarcely speak. All she was able to do was write on a memo pad that the hospital had given her. I sat next to her and held her hand and fought back the tears. I tried so hard for her not to hear me because I knew it would just make her feel worse. I asked her what had happened. She wrote, "Seth."
"What did he do?"
She wrote, "Burned me." I saw her body tremble as if she were crying. I hugged her and asked, "Where is he now?"
She wrote, "Jail, pressing charges, and divorce." I smiled and squeezed her hand.
Samira was hospitalized for a month and half. She under went a skin graft surgery for the left side of her face. I moved her and Zahra in with me. There were times when I heard her crying in her bedroom. I would walk in and tell her everything was going to be ok.
We began our weekend ritual of watching the sunset again, but this time with an addition. We would talk about the same things as before, but with a deeper meaning. She would tell me how repulsive she felt with half her features misshapen, but grateful she was alive to see her daughter grow up. I would say to her that she is still as beautiful as the first time I met her. Every time I would tell her this, her eyes would swell with tears and she would smile and keep looking at the sun setting behind the mountains. On one of the hundred times we saw the sunset, she seemed a little nervous and uneasy. I stared at her awkwardly with my right brow raised and with a grin spread across my face. After a few minutes of the many comfortable silences we had, she turned and said, "Thank you for being so good to me."
"It's nothing really," I said, "I told you I would there for you and I am."
"I know. It's just that I have had you in my life for years now and until now I realized something."
"Oh really?" I said teasingly, "Well, what's this thing you finally realized?" "I realized that I was so oblivious and never saw how much you love me."
I blushed and said nothing.
Then Samira said the loveliest sentence that I have ever heard in my entire life.
She said, "The best thing to come out of this is that I love you too."
I sat there dumbfounded and astonished at her revelation. I did not know what to say to such a warming and heartfelt response, except for the first thing that propped itself into my mind. I turned to Samira, held her hands and said, "I have loved you since the day I met you."
I remember our first sunset together. She sat there on top of a boulder with her knees to her chest and her chin on her knees. When the wind would blow ever so gently, it would make her dark, gleaming hair dance in the sweet summer air. I even recall our whole conversation about nothing in particular. We spoke about the latest movie that came out, most recent music that was released, and book that we both most recently read. We could talk for hours and hours on end about nothing.
Samira was and still is everything to me. Every weekend it would be just her and 1. We were inseparable. Every time we met up at out meeting place, usually a coffee shop, she would say, "What's on schedule today, Vik?" That's what she called me, Vik, short for Victor. She even took it to a different level and spelled it with a k instead of a c. That is absolutely like her to change things to her liking. I think that is what made me love her so.
On one of our sunset trips in the middle of the desert, Samira turned to me and looked deeply into my eyes and said, "I never want to lose you, no matter what happens, ok?"
"You will never lose me. I'll be here for you through thick and thin, I promise, that's what friends are for," I said to her. The next day she announced that she was engaged. My heart sunk to the pit of my empty stomach. 1 cared and loved her so much and believed that no one was suitable for her.
Months passed and I met her fiance, Seth, a business man. He seemed so far fetched and distanced, as if he did not care much for anything or anyone that was important in Samira's life. She married him and may I add, regardless of what 1 thought of Seth, the wedding was incredibly amazing and stunning. It was a wedding straight out of a fairy tale. She looked like a princess walking down the aisle and like a queen at the dance afterward. She wore a long white satin dress, the upper part of the dress had designs of the Victorian Era with lace intertwined in the front and back with tiny white pearls sewn on all the around the edges. Samira wore long elbow length satin gloves, satin shoes (to match the dress) and her amazing hair was curled and pinned up in the shape of a half moon with small flowers placed ever so sweetly in her dark, black, gleaming hair. Her veil was of a see through material, lined with satin to compliment her gown. The veil was attached at the bottom of her hairdo. 1 could tell the night was so magical to her.
I was even there at the birth of her daughter, Zahra. Seth was away on a business trip and that left me in charge of my Samira. I could not imagine how exquisite and fragile her daughter was. She had the same olive skin and big hypnotizing eyes. Besides Samira and the sunsets, Zahra was the most wonderful creature I had ever laid my eyes on.
Everything was perfect in Samira's life until about two years ago. She called me sobbing hysterically at three in the morning saying something about Seth. I could not tell if she was saying something happened to him or he did something to her. I rushed to her home on the desert hill side, about a thirty minute drive, and got there in ten minutes flat. She was outside covering her face with her hands, weeping and crying as though someone had died.
I sat down next to her and asked, "Where's Zahra? Is she alright?"
She replied, "She's doing all right," still sniveling. I asked her what happened.
She began crying even harder, shielding her face. Her upper body dropped next to mine. I held her, trying to comfort her. An hour passed and we were silent sitting outside. I noticed Seth's car was in the drive-way. I asked her again, "What happened, Samira? Where's Seth? I'm here for you remember my promise, through thick and thin."
"I know ... he left. I am just so humiliated. I can't believe I didn't see it before. I never told you anything because I didn't want you to hate him," she said still looking down.
"You have to tell me what's wrong. You can"t hide it from me. You have to tell me. I'll help you and Zahra if you needed it, you know that."
"It's Seth. I found out that his out of town trips haven't been through the company. It was to see his to see ... his ," she cried some more. I held her until she was ready to speak again, " to see his girlfriend. Before we got married he was with her and me, but he said he chose me over her. Come to find out today, he didn't break it off. He's still with her. I confronted him and ... " She revealed to me what she had been hiding. Her right eye was swollen shut. It looked as though she had put on a dark purple patch right on top of it. I shook my head and held her close, stroking her hair. I kissed the top of her head and told her that I'll be there for her and if she needed help, I would help her get through this.
She hugged me and kissed my cheek and said, "Thank you. Thank you, Vik." "You don't want to come and stay the night, just for tonight?" I asked.
"No, I'm fine now. Really, thank you though," she said.
We said our good-byes and I went back home. Everything seemed to have settled and go back to normal. Six months passed when my cell phone rang while I was at work.
"Hello?"
"Hello, may I speak with Victor Kennedy?" "Speaking. "
"Hi, I'm Dan from St. Joseph's Hospital. I'm calling on behalf of Samira Burr. She wants you to know that she has been admitted. Her daughter is with her mother and says not to worry. She does ask for your presence here."
"I'll be there right away! St. Joseph's right? What room number?" "That's correct and the room number is 207."
"207. Thank you."
We hung up. I raced to St. Joseph's Hospital and rushed to room 207. When I saw her, I just wanted to rupture into tears. He face was bandaged up and she could scarcely speak. All she was able to do was write on a memo pad that the hospital had given her. I sat next to her and held her hand and fought back the tears. I tried so hard for her not to hear me because I knew it would just make her feel worse. I asked her what had happened. She wrote, "Seth."
"What did he do?"
She wrote, "Burned me." I saw her body tremble as if she were crying. I hugged her and asked, "Where is he now?"
She wrote, "Jail, pressing charges, and divorce." I smiled and squeezed her hand.
Samira was hospitalized for a month and half. She under went a skin graft surgery for the left side of her face. I moved her and Zahra in with me. There were times when I heard her crying in her bedroom. I would walk in and tell her everything was going to be ok.
We began our weekend ritual of watching the sunset again, but this time with an addition. We would talk about the same things as before, but with a deeper meaning. She would tell me how repulsive she felt with half her features misshapen, but grateful she was alive to see her daughter grow up. I would say to her that she is still as beautiful as the first time I met her. Every time I would tell her this, her eyes would swell with tears and she would smile and keep looking at the sun setting behind the mountains. On one of the hundred times we saw the sunset, she seemed a little nervous and uneasy. I stared at her awkwardly with my right brow raised and with a grin spread across my face. After a few minutes of the many comfortable silences we had, she turned and said, "Thank you for being so good to me."
"It's nothing really," I said, "I told you I would there for you and I am."
"I know. It's just that I have had you in my life for years now and until now I realized something."
"Oh really?" I said teasingly, "Well, what's this thing you finally realized?" "I realized that I was so oblivious and never saw how much you love me."
I blushed and said nothing.
Then Samira said the loveliest sentence that I have ever heard in my entire life.
She said, "The best thing to come out of this is that I love you too."
I sat there dumbfounded and astonished at her revelation. I did not know what to say to such a warming and heartfelt response, except for the first thing that propped itself into my mind. I turned to Samira, held her hands and said, "I have loved you since the day I met you."
