Gone

A Story by Ari Cash

He had made a mistake.
A huge one.
And he needed to fix said mistake before it was too late.
But how?
Time was slipping away, faster than he wanted it to.
Then again, so was she, right through his fingers.
His voice couldn’t find the right words to say, but he needed to say something before she walked away.
The way she was looking up at him, her innocent big brown eyes filled with fresh tears, didn’t make him feel any better.
“Take it back.” She whispered, her voice quivering with emotion. “I know you’ve been stressed lately, and you didn’t mean that…so just take it back.”
He ran a hand through his hair, a war raging within his soul. He didn’t hate her; he could never hate anyone, but her?
No, Tori was unable to be hated.
Well, his sister Amy somehow managed to constantly, but that was a different story…
He realized she was waiting for him to answer, but just as he parted his lips, the sound of her boots clacking against the pavement hit his ears�"that could only mean she was walking away.
He wanted to run after her, grab her by the arm and tell her he didn’t mean it, that he didn’t hate her, that he loved her with all of his heart, and then crush his lips to hers...but he didn’t.
Instead he turned around and walked the other way, towards his car. He had lost her; there was no use in trying to get her back now.
He had lost the girl of his dreams, his wife for only a year.
The pain in his heart was indescribable as he got in his car and drove away.
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