CAROLINE sat on the road and cried. She doesn’t care if some of the people walking around the park look at her. She doesn’t care if they think she’s crazy because she was noisily crying her heart out in the middle of the road. Her heart hurts so much that she feels as if it is being torn into pieces inside her heart.
“Benjamin…” Caroline murmured as she cried. “I’m sorry…”
The sun is about to set. Another day in Paris, France, will end. It’s just a typical day for the other people in the park, but it will be just another day of longing and heartache for Caroline.
“Excusez-moi. Avez-vous vu cette fille? I’ve been looking for her…”
Caroline froze in her position when she heard the faint familiar baritone voice of a man. She stood and looked around to find its direction, and from a distance, about fifteen meters away from her, she saw a man in a simple white shirt, cargo shorts, and brown loafers, approaching random people with what looked like a photograph in his hand.
Tears started to stream down on Caroline’s cheeks again. It was him. It was really him. “Benjamin!” she shouted and ran towards him. “Benjamin, I’m here!”
Benjamin turned in her direction, and as their eyes met, Caroline knew it. This man was a cure for her illness.
“Caroline?” Benjamin mouthed her name in disbelief. “Caroline!”
They met in the middle of the road, under the Eiffel Tower. Caroline missed his arms. She missed the warmth of his body and his musky scent. She missed all of him. Benjamin hugged her tightly and planted kisses on her forehead.
“I’m sorry, Benjamin… I’m sorry…” Caroline murmured as she buried her face onto his chest. “I’m sorry…”
“Shh… Don’t say sorry. I understand you, Caroline,” Benjamin whispered while rubbing her back. “I miss you so much. I longed for this moment to finally have you in my arms again.”
Caroline looked up at him, and when she found out that he was shedding tears, she felt like her heart was being squeezed. It hurts her to see him like this. She reached to touch his stubbled jaw. “I miss you, too, Benjamin…”
With tears clouding his eyes, Benjamin smiled. “I love you…” he murmured while looking into her eyes. “I love you, and I will never let you leave me again, Caroline.”
Caroline shook her head. “I won’t leave you again, Benjamin. I love you more than anything else in this world,” she said and tip-toed to kiss his lips passionately.
*
“YOU mean you’ve been here in Paris for five days?” Caroline asked him wide-eyed. “Where are you staying? Did you eat on time? The kids, who are looking out for them? And, how about the Demitasse?”
Benjamin smiled at Caroline’s non-stop questions. “One question at a time, okay? We have all our lives to answer all of them.”
Caroline pouted her lips and looked at him lovingly. “I’m just worried about you, Benjamin. You don’t have relatives here. And, I know that it’s hard to stay in a foreign country that you knew no one.”
Benjamin held her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’m okay, Caroline. On my first day here, I didn’t know where I should start to find you. I just tried my luck here in Anatole because this is where all the people go. And, with that beautiful face, I’m sure everybody would remember seeing you.”
Caroline narrowed her eyes to him. “Where did you spend your nights here? Don’t tell me that you—”
Benjamin shook his head. “It’s tempting to sleep in the benches here, but I didn’t. I stayed in a cheap motel near here. I have enough money for food for three days—”
“Three days?!” Caroline started to cry. “You shouldn’t do this.”
“I want to because I love you, Caroline,” he assured. “Look at me. Do I look like a starving man? The food is cheap here, and I’ve met a lot of Filipinos. They helped me survive every day.”
Caroline smiled and wiped her tears. “That’s good to hear. Who’s with the twins? Did they know…?”
Benjamin nodded. “I explained everything to them before I decided to follow you here. Hyacinth and Lucas are with them. They volunteered when I told them about my plans.”
“Did Hyacinth tell you that I’m here?” she asked.
“I begged her to tell me,” he said and laughed. “But, she requested not to follow you immediately. I waited five months to see you again, Caroline finally. And, to tell honestly, I was afraid that you might shun me. Hyacinth told me about your emotional disorder and that you might no longer feel the same feelings you had for me before, even after your therapy here. But, I still followed my heart, and I told myself that if you don’t love me anymore, I will make ways to make you fall for me again.”
Caroline’s tears fell on her cheeks. Benjamin’s love for her is so pure that she felt terrible for doing this to him. “What did I do in my past life to deserve someone like you, Benjamin?”
He kissed her knuckles. “God gave me to you because He knows that I can make you fall for me again. With that, the names on your heartbreaker’s list will never increase.”
Caroline chuckled. “I love you, Benjamin. I’m sorry for leaving you for being weak and unreasonable.”
“Don’t say sorry, Caroline. It was me who became weak, I let myself be eaten by self-pity, and instead of proving myself to you, I shunned you and told you the things that triggered your unstable emotions,” he explained while holding her hand. “You didn’t know how terrible I’ve become when you left me, Caroline. And, when I realized what I have done, I can’t find you anymore.”
Caroline cupped his face. “You found me, Benjamin. And it’s because of your love for me. I promised that I would never leave you again and the kids. Thank you for not giving up on me, Benjamin.”
Benjamin kissed her lips. “I love you, Caroline.”
Caroline smiled at him, a smile that spoke a thousand words to him. “I love you, too, Benjamin. Thank you for finding and saving me again from heartache.”
***THE END***