"If you think thats funny,you're absolutely wrong!" the man thundered as he willed his injured food, storming out of the house as Natalie's pleas followed him out of the door into the midnight air.


Days grew into weeks and weeks grew into months. The man had put the episode behind him.She had visited day after day , pleading with him to apologise.Although part of him wanted to forgive her each time, his male ego was preventing him from taking the first step.
The pleas came as usual, and the man refused to budge. He sensed an unusual combination of sadness and weariness in her voice this time.She seemed to be on the verge of tears.The pleas stopped and an unusual silence gripped the area. Determined to make it up to her, as he realised how he had hurt her, and partly how Natalie was so cute.Yanking open the door, he saw her fading figure walking down the corridor as she seemingly wiped
her face
.It was too late to catch up with her as she got into a taxi with her suitcase in hand, fading into the distance


As he turned back for home, he noticed a yellow object on his doorstep. It was a letter.He tore open the contents and was greeted by a tear smudged letter written by her.

Hey.. um.. hi.. i dont know what to say, but i probably think you would have trashed this letter even before i say hello.Haha.Anyway, im really sorry for that debacle.. im really sorry again. haha. guess its just in my genes to apologise. Im leaving for Canada to further my studies and thought i would spill the beans on this secret that i'd buried with me.I am fond of you really. It might be a crush to you, but i kinda fell head over heels, now which one you prefer, my pretty head or my enticing heels? haha.Probably in this lifetime we will never meet again, and i thank you for the short and wonderful gesture to apologise, although it was bittersweet.

Farewell......

Nat


A tear coursed down his cheek as he tried to digest this bombshell revelation.As he fumbled for his key, half in shock, needing several tries to insert into the slot properly.He felt his legs grow weak as he laid on the sofa, rereading the letter again and again , berating himself for being so indifferent.He had finally grasped the quote."treasure each day for you'll never know, tomorrow may be your last."


Burying his face into the quilt, he cried himself to sleep as all he wanted was Natalie to be by his side.



Part 3


**Three Years Later**

The man jumped for joy, and he had good reason to be.He was accepted into the most prestigious university in town, the effort of 3 years of toil sweat and brain-cell killing.Although the loss of Natalie was hard to bear at first.He yearned for each morning to come, yet loathed the long cold nights as he tried not to think of Natalie. In time to come, he realised that he had to finally stop mourning for both his dead fiance and Natalie and move on with life.Opening up to his friends and family, he seemed to be on the road to recovery.He sold the apartment that reminded him of so many unhappy memories and used the proceeds towards his company that he had long dreamt of forming as a childhood dream.


On the other side of the earth, hats flew into the air as Natalie and her class graduated with honours.As she posed for graduation photos, she wondered how he was.She slapped herself and reminded herself that her focus was on the present , not the past.

She retired back to her hostel and flipped onto the bed, and lazily flicked the remote for the radio,checking out what was playing on the DJ's request lists.

"And now, for the next song, requested by Barbara, Westlife's Shadows!" the DJ announced.



" Morning after
Still lingers
Just waking up
I see a shadow of you
Making breakfast for two
I go driving
Past our place and
I see this girl walk by
I smell her perfume
For a moment I wish it was you

I'm not gonna tell ya
I'm not gonna say that I'm okay, no
I'm tryin' to get over
I'm tryin' to get far away from our mistakes

But I see shadows
Everywhere that I go
It's you, reminding me
Of how we were
Of how it was
I see shadows
Everywhere they follow
It's you and memories
Of how we loved
I've had enough of your shadows

Four months gone
I can't feel you
I don't understand it
Where did you go?
I hate that you're all that I know

I'm not gonna tell ya
I'm not gonna say that I'm okay, no
I'm tryin' to get over
I'm tryin' to get far away from our mistakes

But I see shadows
Everywhere that I go
It's you, reminding me
Of how we were
Of how it was
I see shadows
Everywhere they follow
It's you and memories
Of how we loved
I've had enough of your shadows

You couldn't love me
So why won't you leave me?
Shadows
Alone is the only place I want to be

I see shadows
Everywhere that I go
It's you, reminding me
Of how to love
I've had enough
I see shadows
Everywhere they follow
It's you, the memories
Of how we loved
I've had enough
Of your shadows.

She fought back a tear as she murmured "i miss you.. where are you?."
Falling into a fitful sleep, she knew no more as the fatigue consumed her.