Jasmine watched Leon stiffly. Her
facial expression remained emotionless. Even so, her heart fluttered wildly in
her chest, and she sat mesmerized. Her breath caught in her throat, and she was
acutely aware of how handsome Leon still was. Seeing him now only reminded her
of how much she once loved him, of how much she still did. Her heart skipped a
couple of beats as she studied him silently. Leon was dressed well as usual. He
was a little thinner, but it only enhanced his appearance, made him that much more
appealing and sexier than ever. Oh Lord,
why couldn’t it have worked out between us? she spoke breathlessly to
herself.
She had always imagined them growing
old and gray together, she and Leon – holding hands at doctor’s appointments;
taking long, slow, leisure walks around the house, enjoying the fresh afternoon
air; sitting on the porch side by side in the cool evenings biting into slices
of watermelon or delighting in bowls of vanilla ice cream, content and happy in
each other’s company. Even though they would be old and gray, to Jasmine, life
with Leon would still have been complete bliss. Why couldn’t it have been? Why wasn’t her dream his?
