GO STRAIGHT TO THE BOLDED PARTS FOR THE REAL QUESTION, I JUST NEEDED SOME SPACE TO SPILL MY FEELINGS, BUT IT WOULD HELP IF YOU GET AN IDEA OF THE STORY, THOUGH. YOUR PATIENCE IN THIS MATTER IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. TRULY.
Everyone knows I live for love.
Two young adults. He was my first love, but I don't even know what I was to him. He had been in a few serious relationships, and God knows how many others had he dated before and that I could bet it was more or less around 10. Drinks, smokes, but a very intelligent guy indeed. He's charming, he's gentle, he's smooth and he's definitely an expert in this field. I've NEVER went out with any guy before, never had this close of an emotional/physical connection with anyone and definitely do not know what to expect or how to face the harsh realities of the world. We were never exclusive, had never made it official but were definitely more than friends for 10 months. Same college, same classes and we see each other almost everyday.
During our happier times, we've chatted for two whole months, 24/7. Went out only once and it was so awkward for me because from a rather naive point of view, I do not expect so much of intimacy during a person's first date. I was extremely shy, awkward and he was comfortable with his actions. He is crazily obsessed with horseback riding*. It was his passion, his hobby, his life. If he could, he would claim it as his wife, but it was only because he cared so much about his passion and he spends so much of time with it. In his 19 years of living, never had he met any girl who dares to ride with him, or took any interest at all. We share the same horse* every time we go riding. I was the only girl ever who had shared the same horse* with him so far, and he enjoys it when we go riding together. "It takes more for a person to share the same horse* than a bed with me" he said. I was special. He even switch his 6 months old horse* for a bigger, more comfortable one so that it would be more comfortable to accommodate the both of us when we go riding. I was the only girl he ever wrote two poems for, but yeah no biggie. Then..
Weeks passed and he finally break the news to me. "It's not you, it's me" Oh, couldn't he spare me the clichés at least? "I'm aggressive and I don't know if we could fit together. I want out before it gets harder, before one of us starts falling for the other." But it was too late, for me at least. "I don't want to hurt you, and I think you deserve better, and I would actually be happy to see you out there, being so happy with another guy who truly was made for you." There was definitely more than that but I took all of his words literally, only to realize months later that they were all lies.. that this is actually something that happens around us every single day. This man was a jerk, but I still care so much about him. That was like 3 months into our 'relationship', though of course it was never official.
We entered second term together, remained as friends, still do the occasional calls and chats, still went riding together, meet ups turned into a 'heaty session' which turned into lies and deceit. He called out, but I was still receiving mixed signals. We kissed, we touch but none of this ever in school grounds of course, you don't want people to start rumours and ruin his chance with other chicks. One minute he's hot, the next he was giving you the ultimate cold shoulder. You see him talking to a girl, next they were dating, days later you don't see them interacting no more and then he's back to you. Oh, lookie here, I just realized I was being the perfect backup-plan for any guy! Hah. He was my first, and I was affected hard, so hard in so many ways. I fell hard and deep and I was just so glad that I did not do it with him. Not gonna til I'm married. I still care for him and I love him so much that it shows through my face every time I see him and we both know it and there's nothing to hide, but it was just better to pretend that nothing happened. "Don't you care about me anymore?" Whenever he needs a favour. Hmph. Self-absorbed much.
He discusses a lot about horses* with me, but that's about it. It's been a month now since we graduated and we only met 3 times during the one month break. He's back studying now and I'm still at home waiting for my intake in the fall. He even let me ride his horse*, and for a person with zero knowledge in this area, I consider this a very big step for him. He never let anyone touches his 'baby', first time I rode it, I hurt it, it was a stupid mistake. I'm just glad he didn't do anything to me for it because it is his biggest passion in his life and not everyone can get this close to it.. but he was not mad and he understood. But after that, we never met. We grew apart, and we lost touch.
I still remember that last kiss. Months after he broke the news to me, he told me that sometimes he regretted that he pushed me away when it was obvious that I was still not over him. "I think I was wrong about you, Jane*" "But it's too late now." Because I'm going to further my studies overseas for a few years and he's staying. Well obviously from this post, it seems like he's taking advantage of my love for him because he knew that I would do anything for him. And he doesn't care for me, not much. But sometimes, it seems he do. Ah. And he's a total, utter jerk and I know this would never work out if he goes on like this. He sounds like a flirt, a big time player and trust me, he can get any girl to fall for him as long as he wants to. He fools around for a bit, and he moves on to the next. But he has been in a few long term relationships too. Anyhoo, I know I was in an unhealthy 'relationship', that's why I backed away eventually. People call me stupid, blinded but I see these crystal clear. They ask me to quit and I know I should have long ago. I try to think with my head in this, not my heart and it was the hardest thing to do. Up until today, my love for him is still strong and I really don't know why. Obviously he doesn't deserve it but you can't tell the heart what to do. If I ever find him in a life and death situation somewhere in this world, I would definitely catch the first flight there to help him. I haven't had a real heart-to-heart talk with him for months now and I think about him every day but I know he had moved on, fallen out of love ages ago and I pretended that I did too.
Our conversations nowadays were dry, boring and dull. It was just a one liner between the both of us, mostly about bikes, which doesn't last for longer than 5minutes.
Now I'm flying off and probably never seeing him ever again despite all the promises he'd made with me, that he would see me in the future and we would go riding together on our own separate horse*, that he would attend my wedding and I would attend his, we stopped talking earlier than I thought. He said he would keep in touch while I'm at overseas and he would come send me off at the airport. But looking at the situation as it is now, I don't think any of that would ever happen, and that's how I lost my first love. We're acting worse than strangers and it seems to give us this uncomfortable feeling now when we talk. I am saddened by this because he reassured me every day for months that he would see me off at the airport and now he doesn't even respond or return my calls.
And because I know we will always remember our first love, because it was that purest, sweetest feeling anyone could ever experience, that feeling that he wouldn't cheat on you, that you devote your 100% of trust and love to him, that you believe no one out there could be better than him, before it was scarred by the realities of life that love is not a fairytale, it is something you work together on.
I could just walk up and slap him, but that would be very unclassy.
He don't deserve this but I've made a promise to myself that I will finish a book for him. 50 thousand words, a journal I've been keeping since the start of the year. I wrote it all in my computer and I'm going to start transferring it into a book. I still have a month left before I drop it off with a last letter at his condo. I used to watch him at school every day, always on the look out for him, how I could relate so many things to him and how his actions have hurt me. Now before I come off as an obsessive psycho, my only intentions were to reveal everything to him and how much of an impact he has brought upon my life. How deep my love was for him and how much I thank him for what he taught me about life.
He will receive this package once I'm thousands of feet up in the air, on the way to a new country and he has all the time he wants to read it. I could expect a couple of reactions from him: 1. He'd love it/he'd rush to the airport to try his luck/ he'd give me a call about this/ he'll remember me for what I've done/ he'll keep the book until he dies OR 2. He'd hate it/freaked out by all the details and how much of a serial stalker I can actually be/burn it/read it halfway and dump it aside for his cat to chew. Either way, my intentions were clear and I do not hope for either one of it.
I just hope he understands how much he used to mean to me. And now that I'm out of town with a new focus, I can finally, finally move on. And all the bittersweet memories will be in that book.
So, I just want to know how would you feel if you were in his shoes? That one day you received an unexpected gift from an ex lover that you've fallen out of love with. That you only think of her as a normal friend now, but once shared a special moment with you long ago. A book, a journal containing all true feelings from a person. Would you freak out? Would you cry? Would you do anything about it? I'm just curious, since I don't think I would ever get back to a happy situation with him again.
Please let me know how you would feel about receiving this parting gift from a person?
*details were hidden for personal reasons