And they all flew off into the night sky
The house was dark. There was no trace of warmth in the air, leaving this Winter night feeling even more chilly like needles poking into my bones.
I stepped into the empty house and slowly closed the door behind me. I didn't turn on the light. My eyes soon adapted to the darkness with the night light coming in through the floor-to-ceiling window in front of the living area.
I walked heavily across the dining area, stepping two stairs down towards the living area, and then slowly dropped myself onto the bright brown leather couch as I gazed through the night view on the other side of the window.
I turned and looked at the couch that I was sitting on. It was a few years ago when we first saw it displayed in front of a furniture showroom where we randomly went window shopping. I have seen many luxurious or comfortable couch sets, but I fell in love with this set at first sight.
Ah, we ended up scrolling through that showroom because we were waiting for our movie time at a nearby cinema. I chuckled to myself: he has always liked watching movies. At the thought of that, my smile froze, and I looked through the wide window in front of me.
Is he on his way to the cinema now? Has he eaten dinner? Is he feeling lonely and disappointed because I chose my work over him on a special day of ours?
"It's always about me."
"He felt neglected for too long."
Words from Daisy J an hour ago still kept lingering in my mind as I fell deeper and deeper into a sense of guilt and regret.
Have I also been selfish and self-centered, that I have not cared enough for my husband's needs or spent enough quality time with him? That it's all about me?
Yes, we were always together, but were we wholly present for each other, or were we just being in the same space but our hearts were far apart in different worlds?
Suddenly, a series of bright lights on the wide balcony outside the window and the sliding glass doors caught my attention and pulled me back from the raging seas of my emotions.
It took me two seconds to make sense of what I saw orchestrated in front of my eyes.
Rows of tiny yellow light bulbs were lit up, dangling throughout the ceiling of our balcony. And then on the grass carpet, one after another rolls of light each shaped and wrapped like a huge rose started lighting up, forming a line, and slowly drew a big heart.. with a tail.. My eyes were chasing the moving light line until it finally stopped at the end of the heart tail. Next to the last light rose that lit up, I saw a pair of feet.
My empty heart was instantly filled until overflowing when I realized whose pair of feet that was. My vision started getting a little blurry as my sight moved upwards from that pair of feet to reveal the face of the man I missed so much since listening to Daisy J.
There he was, standing there in his long winter jacket and the grey beanie that I bought for him last winter, with the wide smile he always gave me, holding a bunch of plum-colored helium balloons among two heart-shaped foil balloons.
Only when I felt the warmth of his hug that I realized I had walked past the sliding glass doors and towards him at the corner of the heartfeltly decorated balcony.
"..I am sorry," I murmured in his embrace.
With his ballon hand wrapping around my waist, he wiped the tears on my cheek with his fingers on the other hand and I heard him chuckle as he said, "For coming home earlier and giving me a happy surprise? Thank you."
It was a beautiful moment that I seriously wanted to freeze and frame into our memories until we heard a spark along with a burning smell.
"Oh, man!" He abruptly let go of me and whatever he was holding in his hands and rushed into the sliding glass doors.