On the plane that day, a thirty-seven-year-old Norwegian woman shared her own story with her close friend.
One day, her professor husband confessed to her that he had fallen in love with a student. At that time, his love for the student was still platonic.
She asked her husband what he wanted to do. He said he didn't know. She then asked if he loved the student more than he loved her now, right? He didn't respond. But she understood everything. She suggested, "Then let's get a divorce."
In the days that followed, they discussed the divorce. The husband was quite honorable, willing to give her all their property. She said, "I don't want your money. I have just one condition. We separate now and officially divorce in three years."
The husband shared her condition with his young girlfriend. The girlfriend wasn't too pleased, but eventually, she compromised, probably wanting to protect the man's assets.
Throughout the entire conversation with her friend, she never spoke ill of her husband or his girlfriend. On the contrary, the first thing she said was that her husband was a good man. She mentioned, "If I hadn't brought up the divorce, he would not have initiated it. If I had asked him to stay, he would have stayed with me. But what's the point if I keep the man but not his love? That girl is indeed beautiful, and being young and beautiful does make it easy for people to fall in love with you. It's not hard to gain love, but the hardest part is maintaining it."
I asked her, "Why three years?"
She explained, "There's statistical evidence. The passion between two people burns out after a maximum of three years. He's gotten used to everything about me from being with me every day. I'm confident that once we're apart, he'll still miss me. Then, I'll get in touch with him. I know his character; he won't meet me without telling the girl. At that point, I'll kindly suggest that maybe we shouldn't see each other? His reaction doesn't really matter after that. There are only two possibilities: 1, To satisfy his girlfriend, he doesn't see me, which will surely leave him dissatisfied with her. If one person in a couple is dissatisfied, it will definitely lead to arguments; 2, He insists on seeing me. That would upset his girlfriend, surely leading to a fight. By then, I'll be traveling, sharing various boastful photos on FACEBOOK, sometimes even with handsome men."
Her friend commented, "You're so calm about this. Do you actually love your husband?"
She simply replied, "I do."
Then she revealed to her friend that it was now the third year. In her own words, the first year she also got herself a lover, which was more about having some fun and keeping her charm as a normal woman.
During the second year, she still kept in touch with her husband over FACEBOOK, and he never mentioned anything about his girlfriend. Through other friends, she learned that her husband had been arguing with his girlfriend frequently, exactly as she had predicted.
She had been traveling to various countries, and just last week, she went home for a visit. Before going home, she posted on FACEBOOK, and that time, her husband, disregarding his girlfriend's feelings, asked her out for coffee. It started with coffee and then...
She said with a smile, "Yesterday, he called and said a lot, but the gist was that he confessed to his girlfriend about what happened between us that day. The girlfriend was devastated but still didn’t want to break up. Eventually, he decided to break up with her because he wants to reconcile with me, feeling that I am the most suitable for him. I told him, let's talk about it after I finish my travels."
Her friend asked, "Without him, it seems like you're having a great time. Do you want to get back together with him?"
She responded, "Of course. I love him, and he loves me; why not? However, I can't let him know my thoughts just yet. I'll reject him first, let him taste what it's like to lose me."
The story from the main character ends there. As many listeners as there are, that many endings can be imagined, but most probably envision that particular ending.
