WHEN INTIMACY BECOMES SECONDARY IN MARRIAGE – Episode 3

Standing by the door of the restroom, knocking and pleading with her to open it, I waited. I stood there for what felt like forever.

Finally, after the tears had slowed and the emotional storm my confession had caused began to settle, she opened the door. Her eyes were swollen, her face wet with tears. Still sobbing quietly, she walked past me, went straight to the bed, lay down, and wrapped herself completely in the duvet.

It was an emotional moment for me. I never imagined she would react that way. Maybe she had started seeing me differently just as I had begun to see her differently a few months earlier.

I gave her time to calm down. After a while, she turned and looked at me, her eyes still heavy with tears. Slowly, she sat upright and looked straight into my eyes. “You are a good man,” she said softly.
“I am happy for you. Very lucky is the woman who will marry you.” She paused and then added,
“It was a cry of joy… not hurt, not disappointment.”
She held me close and prayed for me.

In that moment, I was strangely happy, because the string I was about to pull would shock her. When she finished praying, I held her hand and showed her a picture on my phone.“Who is this?” I asked. She looked at me, slightly puzzled. “That’s me, of course,” she replied.
“Why are you showing me my picture?” I smiled and said, “She will be the mother of my children…
The wife of my youth.
That picture is the beat of my heart, the best description of decency, godliness, purity, and love.”

I gently pulled her up from the bed. Standing shoulder to shoulder, looking straight into her eyes, I asked: “Will you marry me?” She froze.Completely speechless. For a moment that felt like eternity, she said nothing. Then suddenly she said,“Stop this! Get off this prank.
You know I wouldn’t say yes to this kind of joke.”
Her voice grew heavier.
“You know there is no future for us. Even if you try to create one, it will be full of thorns, pain, and deep wounds.”She continued, “You know my history. You know my situation. What I told you that night in your apartment should have discouraged you.”

Then she looked at me with the honesty of someone who truly cared.
“We have been friends all our lives. It is better to remain good friends than to enter a marriage that may not last.” As she spoke, tears rolled down my cheeks uncontrollably.

I saw her sincerity.
I saw her love for me.
And strangely, I also saw the sense in everything she was saying. Yet, deep within me, I wanted more.

A kind of more that, to me, could only be fulfilled through marriage. Lost in confusion and deep thought, I didn’t even notice when the ring in my hand slipped… and fell to the floor.

#Jarlathuchethemastercreativestoryteller

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