Chapter 5 - Evander

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Morning blurred into the night, and night melted back into the morning, the hours slipping by in a relentless cycle of exhaustion. It wasn’t until I finally packed up my things and called a taxi that I realized how much time had passed. My body was aching, my mind was foggy, and the idea of driving myself home felt too risky. The last thing I needed was to get into an accident because I was too tired to focus.

As I stood on the curb, waiting for the taxi to arrive, my eyes scanned the busy street, catching glimpses of people rushing by, all caught up in their own lives. And that’s when I saw her—Laura. My heart clenched at the sight of her, a familiar ache surfacing that I had buried deep down. She looked just as I remembered, with that same confident stride, but now there was something different about her, something that reminded me of everything I had tried to forget.

I tried to look away, to ignore the rush of emotions threatening to overwhelm me. But before I could turn, she noticed me. “Evander!” she called out, her voice slicing through the noise of the city, cutting straight into me.

I froze, my heart pounding in my chest, but I forced myself to move, to pretend I hadn’t heard her. The last thing I wanted was to have a conversation with her, not after everything that had happened. I hurried to the waiting taxi, opened the door, and slid inside without looking back.

As the car pulled away from the curb, I could still feel her presence lingering in my mind. I stared out the window, trying to focus on anything other than the pain that was gnawing at my insides. But it was no use. Memories of Laura came flooding back, unbidden and unwanted.

Why did it have to end like that? I had done everything I could to make her happy, to be the person she needed. But in the end, it wasn’t enough. She had chosen someone else—someone who was supposed to be my friend. The betrayal had cut deep, and even now, the wound felt raw.

The taxi ride felt like an eternity, each minute dragging on as I wrestled with the emotions I thought I had moved past. I hated that she still had this effect on me, that seeing her could unravel me so completely. I hated that she was with him and that I had to see it.

By the time the taxi pulled up in front of my apartment, I was exhausted, but not from the lack of sleep. It was the emotional toll that weighed on me, leaving me drained and hollow. I paid the driver, barely registering his polite thank you, and stepped out into the cool evening air.

The quiet of my apartment was a stark contrast to the chaos in my mind. I dropped my bag on the floor and sank onto the couch, burying my face in my hands. The room was dark, and I didn’t bother turning on the lights. I just sat there, letting the silence press in around me.

Laura’s face kept flashing in my mind, along with the sound of her voice calling my name. I wanted to be angry, to curse her for what she did to me. But all I felt was a deep, aching sadness—a sense of loss that I couldn’t shake.

I had taken these three days off to rest, to recover from the relentless pace of the hospital, but now it seemed like they would be spent wrestling with old demons. I leaned back on the couch, closing my eyes, trying to push it all away. But the hurt was there, stubborn and persistent, refusing to let me go.

As the hours ticked by, I lay there in the dark, feeling the weight of everything I had tried to bury. The past had a way of sneaking up on you, catching you off guard when you least expected it. And tonight, it had found me, leaving me to face the pain I thought I had left behind. Many hours later, as exhaustion finally took over, I drifted into a restless sleep. My dreams, however, offered no escape from the turmoil inside me. I found myself standing in a strange, misty landscape, caught between two paths. At the end of one path stood Calista, her kind eyes and warm smile radiating a sense of calm and comfort. She looked at me with an expression that made my heart feel lighter as if just being in her presence could heal the wounds I carried.

On the other path stood Laura, my ex-girlfriend. She looked just as I remembered—smart, beautiful, with that familiar confidence that had once drawn me to her. But there was something else in her eyes now, a shadow of the past that lingered between us. The pain she had caused me was still there, etched into the lines of her face, a reminder of the heartbreak that had come when she chose someone else over me.

In the dream, I was forced to make a choice. I had to decide who I would walk toward, and who I would choose to be with me forever. My heart pounded in my chest as I stood at the crossroads, torn between the two women who had shaped my life in such different ways.

Calista… she was everything I admired—kind, caring, beautiful inside and out. She made me feel like I could be a better person like there was a future where I could be truly happy. But we had only just begun to know each other, and the idea of what we could be was still uncertain, and fragile.

Then there was Laura… my first love, the girl I had fallen for so deeply in middle school and high school. She had been my world back then, and I had loved her with everything I had. But that love had been shattered when she chose my friend over me, leaving me with a broken heart that had taken years to mend. Yet, despite the pain, part of me still remembered the good times, and the connection we once shared.

The choice seemed impossible. Calista represented hope, a chance to move forward and build something new, something real. But Laura was tied to my past, to memories both sweet and bitter, to a time when I believed in a love that could last forever.

In the dream, I took a step forward, my heart heavy with the weight of the decision. I knew that whichever path I chose, would define my future. But even in the dream, I couldn’t decide. The paths blurred together, and I was left standing in the mist, torn between the past and the potential for a new beginning.

I woke up with a start, my heart still racing, the dream lingering in my mind like a ghost. The room was still dark, the silence pressing in around me. But the emotions were real, the uncertainty all too familiar. I had no answers, only more questions. And as I lay there, staring up at the ceiling, I realized that the choice I faced in the dream was not just about who I would be with, but about what kind of life I wanted to live.