Roseanne's Summer Vacation- Chapter 45

The night quickly turned to morning. Everyone was fast asleep after the ordeal they had survived. So much so, in fact, that they slept through breakfast time. Mr Orville was the first to open his eyes around 11 am. Before getting up, he checked his toe, on which a red scalp formed. At least it wasn’t bleeding anymore.

I need to show it to my GP when I get back home, he thought.

***

Like the previous day, knocking on the door woke Roseanne up. This time, she hadn’t had any nightmares because her brain was too fried. At night, the girl only managed to change into pants and a T-shirt with a Tom and Jerry logo before she passed out. Now, she could barely move.

“Breakfast, yes?” Roseanne mumbled when she opened the door.

Mr Orville shook his head. “I think we’re a little too late for that. If you don’t mind, come down with me to the ground floor.”

“Me? Just me? Right now?”

“Yes. Let the others sleep for a little longer.”

“Okay… I will get my slippers.”

***

They went to a bar that was next to the reception. Because it was noon, Roseanne and Mr Orville were the only customers. Every other guest has already eaten breakfast in a restaurant on the first floor.

The waiter approached them and, as it was prearranged with Mr Orville, he served Roseanne with a meal. It was her favourite: roasted chicken with rice.

The girl’s belly screamed immediately. She was so hungry. “Thank you very much, Mr Orville. You shouldn’t have!”

“No, no, no. Thank you for saving me and retrieving the money. I’m forever indebted to you.”

The girl blushed faintly at the compliment. “What about the others?” She asked. “Are we going to leave them with empty stomachs?”

“Don’t worry. They will have their meals delivered to the rooms. Eat, please.”

Roseanne threw herself at the food. It was delicious. Arguably, it was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten, but she thought so only because of the exertion she had endured. Mr Orville remained silent while she was clearing the plate. He didn’t want her to choke or swallow air.

After she was done, her belly let out a loud burp. “Oh! I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay.” Mr Orville smiled. “I have one more thing for you.” He put Roseanne’s manuscript on the table. The girl raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had completely forgotten about her novel.

The teacher said, “I finished it this morning and I greatly enjoyed it.”

She could hear from the tone of his voice that the compliment was sincere, not forced. Mr Orville continued. “You should submit it for the contest. It’s a beautiful romantic story, but it’s also sad.”

“Life is sad,” Roseanne said, wiping her mouth with a handkerchief. “The story I told on the pages really happened to me, and it didn’t have a happy ending. I met a boy when I was on vacation. Well, we were little children, actually. We were playing on a street and one word led to another, so have gave his home address. I wrote him a postcard when I returned, but he didn’t respond. Four years later! He wrote back, claiming he lost my postcard but eventually found it. From that point on, we were chatting and chatting about our daily shenanigans, our feelings… I felt he understood me, but it was only an illusion. I felt I found love, whereas he just wanted to have someone to chat with.”

“And one day he never wrote back?”

“That’s exactly right.” Roseanne became sadder. “He disappeared from my life as if I meant nothing to him. Not even as a friend.”

“He wasn’t your friend to begin with. If he was, he would have come to see you in person.”

Roseanne crossed her arms. “I know you’re right, Mr Orville. But it was so hard for me to deal with this loss. That’s why I wrote this book.” She looked at him. “What about you and your loss?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know my love story. Now I want to know yours.”

“No, you don’t.”

“We had a deal!”

Mr Orville shuddered. “Alright, alright. Don’t shout.” He sighed. “Where do I even begin?”

“The start would be the best.”

“Even the start is complicated.”

Mr Orville began telling his story. It was complicated for him because what he had experienced wasn’t love at first sight. They had known each other for over a year. They lived in the same neighbourhood. A friend of a friend of a friend introduced them to each other at some shoddy birthday party. They said hi and continued to say hi whenever they passed on the street. To Mr Orville, she was just a stranger who knew his name.

But there came a day when Mr Orville fell gravely ill. So much so, he couldn’t perform his teaching duties and had to lie in bed for two weeks straight. When he recovered, he was depressed and angry at the entire world. Being a lonely man, he felt that life is meaningless, that nothing matters because people are going to die anyway.

Then they met by chance at a bus stop. It was raining. Mr Orville had an umbrella, but she didn’t. She spotted him first. She came up to him and said it was good to see him because she was worried, wondering where on earth he had been. Mr Orville was deeply surprised by what he heard. Her eyes surprised him even more. They were so radiant, sparking with light brown colour at the sight of him. And her smile, so gentle and smooth, like a freshly unwrapped lollipop.

“It was at that moment when I fell in love,” Mr Orville explained. “And I fell for her hard, because she showed me warmth and care I didn’t know I needed.”

Obviously, they began spending more time together. Hanging out in cafes and restaurants, chatting away about the daily stuff, their hopes and worries. Soon after, Mr Orville became her confidant, a trusted companion. He knew everything there was about her life and her secrets, and she knew she could always share them with him because he was her soundboard.

Mr Orville’s love for her grew stronger with time. He wrote countless love letters and poems to her, but never sent any. This was because he knew deep down that she regarded him only as a friend. She has never shown any sign of a romantic interest. She held his hand only as a friend, hugged him as a friend, and kissed him goodbye as a friend.

“It was unrequited love,” Mr Orville commented.

“Forgive me, sir, but it’s a bunch of bull. After what you told me so far, I still believe you should have told her what you felt. If she had rejected you, then you could call it unrequited love for certain. You could move on, and that would be the end of it.”

“Roseanne, I…” His voice hung for a moment. “I didn’t want to destroy the friendship I built with her.”

The girl thought for a moment. “You mean, you didn’t want to lose her no matter what?”

“Yes. I was afraid that if I told her I loved her, she would have thought Oh! He’s just another creep who’s trying to take advantage of me. Best to stay away from him.”

“If she were to do that, then it would mean she wasn’t worthy of you and your friendship.”

Mr Orville sighed deeply. “Eventually, I limited contact with her. I learned to stop obsessing over her because of a dream.”

“A dream?”

The teacher explained the dream he had. In it, he found himself on a bench in a park. He got up and saw in front of him a sculpture made of marble. It was the woman he loved. His gut feeling told him she was locked within that sculpture. His love did it to her. His love turned her to stone. All of a sudden, the sculpture broke away from its base and landed on the ground. He knelt beside it and realised his love was so powerful that it could destroy the two of them altogether.

“I knew what I had to do to save her. I began whispering to the statue as follows: ‘Why have we met sideways through time? Had it been a different day, a different setting. I wish we could be together, but it’s not possible. Even though you don’t love me back, that’s okay. But I will love you forever and beyond. And to prove my unconditional love, I know I have to let you go.’ My tears trickled down, and the statue was no more. She reverted back to her old self, sleeping with a peaceful smile.”

“And what happened next?”

“That’s it. The dream ended there. That’s the whole story.” Mr Orville took a sip of water.

Roseanne drank her tea, digesting both the lunch and what she had just heard. “So it’s the end? You don’t see her anymore?”

“I see her, but not as often as I used to. We chat from time to time on Messenger and exchange birthday wishes. For a while, I seriously considered sticking a love poem behind the windshield of her car, but I dropped this idea.”

“Again, because you were afraid of losing her?”

“No. I would have made the poem anonymous, but I don’t think this would be appropriate.”

Roseanne paused for a while. She wasn’t sure if she could ask this, but she tried. “Can you recite one of these love poems to me?”

Mr Orville was taken aback by this request. His fingers fidgeted a bit on the water glass. “Okay, but you mustn’t repeat it to anyone.”

“That’s a promise.”

Mr Orville started:

 

she used to lurk by the doorstep

I don’t think she was even interested

there wasn’t even a “for rent” sign

but she knocked on my door anyways

 

I opened

she came in

looked around

checked if the water is running

if the fridge is full

all that jazz

 

she didn’t have to pay anything

her smile was enough

her eyes were enough

her presence was enough

to my heart’s content

 

and even when it was raining

when she was sad and sleepy

when she was bending her fingers

there was something majestic

in her sadness

that was enough

to my heart’s content

 

she didn’t fully realise where she was

she acted like a boss

as if she owned the damn place

she came for three-quarters each day

to have a chat, to have a laugh

and off she went back to her dominion

 

I shouldn’t complain

there are many landlords

but she chose to spend time with me

but I wanted to spend more time with her

 

outside we started assembling a scaffolding

to repaint the dwelling

I started from one side

she started from the other

but she could only come for three-quarters

 

soon my end of the scaffolding was higher than hers

and it looked like a total mess

but I waited each day for her

so she could come for her three-quarters

her scaffolding was never as high as mine

 

did it matter to me?

no, it didn’t

all I wanted was to see her

all I wanted to was to be with her

the scaffolding was never finished

 

she’s a lodger in my heart

she’s so much in my heart

that it’s already hers

not mine

 

she’s a lodger in my heart

my endless love for her

made me a person

sans domicile fixe

 

Roseanne felt tears welling up in her eyes.

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