Chapter 15 - The Final Encounter
Maid: Excuse me,
I need to buy some flowers for a grave,
do you have white lilies?
Florist: Let me check the back,
wait,
David, can you assist this customer?
Groom: Yes, I am coming,
how can I...
Oh, it is you.
Maid: I did not know you worked here,
I can go to another shop,
I do not want any trouble.
Groom: No,
stay,
I will get the lilies for you.
Maid: You look different,
older,
tired.
Groom: Flipping burgers and selling flowers will do that to a man,
it ages you quickly,
especially when you have no hope.
Maid: I am sorry things turned out this way for you,
I never wanted you to suffer endlessly,
I just wanted you to stop hurting me.
Groom: You destroyed me completely,
are you satisfied now?
Do you feel victorious?
Maid: There are no victors in our story,
only survivors,
and I am surviving perfectly well now.
Groom: How is Leo?
Does he ever ask about me?
Does he know who I am?
Maid: He knows you made bad choices,
but he is happy,
he plays soccer and loves his new dog.
Groom: I missed everything,
his first steps,
his first words,
his whole childhood.
Maid: You chose to miss it,
you chose the money and the fake life,
do not rewrite history now.
Groom: I was an idiot,
a blind, arrogant fool,
and I throw away the only real thing I ever had.
Maid: It is too late for apologies,
the damage is done,
and the scars are permanent.
Groom: I know I can never fix it,
but for whatever it is worth,
I am truly sorry.
Maid: Thank you for saying that,
it took five years and a total collapse for you to find some humility,
but I hear you.
Groom: Here are your lilies,
they are fresh today,
no charge for you.
Maid: I will pay for them,
I do not want your charity,
here is twenty dollars.
Groom: Keep the change,
please,
just let me do one nice thing.
Maid: Goodbye, David,
I hope you find peace eventually,
I really do.
Groom: Goodbye,
take care of our boy,
raise him to be a better man than me.
Maid: I already am,
he is nothing like you,
and he never will be.
Groom: As she walks out the door,
the bell chimes,
and the final chapter of my past closes forever.
Mother: Who was that?
Was that her?
Why did you give her free flowers?
Groom: It was the price of a clear conscience, Mom,
May you like
a very small price to pay,
for a very heavy soul.
