Awaited Love (Part II)

Silvia stared at the message on her phone, reading it over and over again.

Simo: "Hey, I've been thinking about us. Can we talk tonight?"

It had been 11 hours since that message. She hadn’t replied. Not because she didn’t want to — but because a reply would mean reopening the door she wasn’t sure she wanted to walk through again.

She sat by her window, the sky outside turning gold and grey, that bittersweet hue of sunset that always made her feel like something was ending. Or beginning. Or both.

Her journal lay open beside her, half-filled with pages she had written about Simo. Their first call. The way he called her “my sunshine” even on days when her storms were heavy. The way they’d share songs and dreams like little secrets. She smiled at the memory… and then frowned, because it hurt now.

Why had it become this hard?

At exactly 8:03 PM, her phone buzzed again.

Simo: "Sil… are you there?"

She typed. Deleted. Typed again. Then finally, she sent:

Silvia: "I’m here. Call me."

The phone rang.

Her heart thudded in her chest. She wasn’t sure if it was hope or fear.

“Hey,” he said, his voice soft.

“Hey,” she replied, quieter than she meant to.

There was a pause. The kind that holds a hundred thoughts no one knows how to say.

“I’ve missed you,” Simo said.

Silvia didn’t know what to do with those words. She wanted to believe them. She also wanted to scream, Then why did you leave me waiting in silence?

Instead, she asked, “So… what have you been thinking about?”

Simo sighed. “About us. About how things changed. I know I haven’t been present. And I hate that I let things get to this point. You didn’t deserve the distance.”

He paused again, then added, “I guess I got caught up in everything. Work, pressure, stuff I didn’t know how to talk about. And instead of sharing, I pulled away. I’m sorry.”

Silvia closed her eyes. She’d dreamed of this apology. But now that it was here, it felt… unfinished.

“I needed you, Simo,” she said quietly. “And you weren’t there. I was patient. I gave space. But I was hurting too. And I kept showing up — for both of us.”

“I know,” he whispered.

“Then why didn’t you fight for me?”

The line was quiet for a long time. Silvia could hear him breathing.

“I didn’t know how,” he finally said. “And honestly, I didn’t think I could give you what you deserved.”

Her heart cracked a little more. Not because he didn’t love her. But because maybe love wasn’t enough.

“You still mean the world to me,” Simo continued. “But I don’t want to keep you stuck waiting for a better version of me. You deserve someone who doesn’t hesitate.”

She felt tears forming. Not dramatic ones. Just that slow, aching kind that come when you realize the person you love is both the dream and the dilemma.

“So what now?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe we pause. Maybe we start again — slowly. Or maybe we let go. I want to do what’s best for you.”

Silvia wiped her eyes. She hated how soft he still sounded. How much she still loved his voice even when it was breaking her heart.

“I don’t have the answer either,” she whispered. “But I know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m tired of waiting for love that doesn’t know if it’s coming or going.”

---

The Dilemma

That night, Silvia sat in bed with her phone pressed to her chest, heart heavy with unsaid things. The call ended without closure. There were no promises, no definite endings. Just… space.

Should she hold on to the love that once made her feel alive — or walk away from the love that had made her wait?

She didn’t sleep much.

And when morning came, the only thing more uncertain than the sunrise… was what she would do next.

---

To be continued…

Sometimes love lingers between goodbye and maybe.
And sometimes, the bravest thing to do… is decide.