"Once again"

I had this past when I was just a high school student, in a star class section and you know what that means. I've met her in that class, and I know to myself that she's the "one", but she becomes my "enemy".

It was that day, I confessed my love and what I really truly feel about her. However, her answer devastated me. "I don't like you! and I will never be! Why can't you understand that?!" she screamed at me in the back of the school where I told her to meet me.

I became more active in my academics until I won against her from being the top at our school. I look at her in the eyes, and I can only see hatred and something I cannot tell, while I look at her blankly and nothing more. At the end of the school year I became the valedictorian and delivered my speech. I said a sentence that I shouldn't have said. "Thank you. To the person I liked back then." as I look into her eyes with nothing.

Many years later, I am a CEO of my company and hiring a new secretary because my previous secretary was becoming weak and getting old. So I made her last job to find a new secretary who can do her job like hers. In a few days she retired and I had the new secretary at my office. Once again, I finally saw her again in many years, but for me it's like it's been eternity. The feelings I've felt back then, it's like a flash as all what I've felt came back all over again."Good day Sir! I'll be your new secretary for this time." she said cheerfully and smiling. She doesn't know how I've missed her, I wanted to hug her, and tell her how I still feel, but no. I mustn't. I can't. I saw her left hand with a ring on it. "Okay. You can go back to your desk, Also inform me of my next meeting." I said coldly. "Understood sir." She said calmly as she left my office.

I laughed sadly at myself as I could see her smile with a ring on it. I imagined I was the one who she married. Furthermore, I stared at my window as a tear left in my eyes, my eyesight became blurry as I cried my heart out. Thankfully my office is soundproofed and tinted, so no one can see me. I hugged my knees crying like a kid who just got lost. I calmed myself down and fixed myself, but I was still looking outside my office window as I heard a knock on my door and told them to come in. "What is it?" I said softly. "You have a meeting at 3 PM, Sir. At XXX Restaurant." She said. I looked at my watch as it was 2:30 PM. "Okay. I'll get going." I walked past her not saying another word.

As I returned home, the emptiness of my apartment felt suffocating. I poured myself a drink, hoping to drown the ache that had settled deep within. The city outside buzzed with life, but I felt like a ghost, drifting through memories that refused to fade.

I tried to focus on work, on the next big project, but her smile haunted me—radiant and distant, forever out of reach. I found myself scrolling through old photos, each one a reminder of moments we shared. In the background, laughter echoed, but now it felt like a cruel joke.

Days passed, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something vital was missing. I kept glancing at my phone, half-expecting a message from her, yet each time I was met with silence. I knew she was moving on, and the thought twisted the knife deeper.

One night, I sat in front of my computer, staring at the screen. I drafted a message, pouring my heart into words that I would never send. I wanted to tell her how I felt, how I had never truly stopped loving her. But in my heart, I knew it was too late—she was someone else’s now.

Tears streamed down my face as I hit delete, the finality of it crashing over me like a wave. I sank to the floor, the weight of regret pulling me down. I had built a successful life, but without her, it felt hollow.

In that moment, I understood: some loves linger like ghosts, haunting us with “what if's” and “if only's.” As I closed my eyes, I whispered her name, a prayer to the universe that she would find happiness, even if it wasn’t with me.

And as sleep finally claimed me, I felt the ache of unrequited love settle in—a reminder that sometimes, the heart must carry its burdens alone, and the sweetest memories can also be the most painful.

...The end.

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