Short Story

       Complicated Love 

          There they met, on the playground in grade four. Oh young Andrew and Victoria. Little did they know that they would have such a complicated future. They were each other's first loves, no one could deny it. They became best friends, the lived near each other, they were in the same class, spent every recess every lunch together. They were basically inseparable. Over the years they faced many obstacles and even though there were so many ups and downs they managed to stay friends. In grade five Andrew went back to Colombia, where he was originally from. That's something they had in common they were both Colombians, that lived in Canada well until Andrew had to leave. It was so hard on both of them. They would write to message each other through Facebook or Skype it was very difficult but they managed to stay in contact. After a few years when they were both in grade eight Andrew moves back to Canada, but not necessary close to where Victoria still lived she lived in Vancouver, he now lived in Ottawa. It was an improvement but not necessarily a solution to their problems.  They are still 2,991 miles away from each other.

  As time went by they made plans to see each other in the near future. But there was always something in their way. Only about a year after he was living in Ottawa for family reasons Andrew and his family had to move back to Colombia. This was hard on both of them, they couldn't be with each other. After many times of failing they stopped believing the idea that one day they would be close enough to spend time with each other a lot more frequently and outside of a computer screen. 

If there was a small remote chance they would ever see each other they thought it have to be after high school for sure. But they still talked and they always knew deep down there would always be feelings for the other person. They knew nothing could blow out that spark they always had within each other. 

Finally when they were in grade ten after five years of not seeing each other, they saw each other again. Andrew and his family decided to move to Vancouver Island and Victoria lived in Surrey so they could finally see each other. One night Andrew messages his best friend Maggie and he tells her that he's moving back to British Columbia! She was so excited for him, she was his best friend, in a different way that Victoria was. They had all been friends since elementary school so seeing each other was going to be amazing! On December 17th he arrived, and with the help of Victoria's mom Carol, Victoria , Maggie and Carol headed to the airport to pick Andrew and his family up. When they saw each other again it's like the room stopped moving everything and everyone froze. They hugged and hugged. They could not stop smiling the whole night.  

After that night he headed to the island to start his new life there with  his family, each month he would come for one weekend and during that time all three of them would spend time together. One weekend that he came Victoria poured her heart out to him, she had recently broken up with her boyfriend Benjamin and she felt it was time to let all those emotions out, all thought he always said he would always love her something was different he didn't feel the same anymore. He told her it was not worth it because they would only see each other once a month and it would be too complicated and it would not last and then once they broke up that would ruin their friendship so he did not want to risk it. That broke her heart she was not expecting that. So three days later she got back together with Benjamin but only for about a week or so because she knew no one could compare to Andrew.  

As time went on she tried to forget, and although she will always love him she was not going to let him have her heart forever. Months went by and she met this guy named Nigel. After a few weeks they had developed feelings for each other. Nigel was not ready for a relationship at the moment but Victoria said she would wait for him. During that time that Nigel and Victoria started liking each other Andrew had rekindled an old friendship that later turned to more serious feelings. He started dating a girl named Lara that Maggie and Victoria did not like but they decided to not say too much about the new relationship because they were sure it was not going to last. 

As the years went by Andrew and Lara were still together and so were Victoria and Nigel. They had all graduated high school and where in their first years of college when Maggie and Andrew get an invitation in the mail to Victoria and Nigel's wedding. The invitation said " WE ARE GETTING MARRIED AND REQUEST YOUR PRESENCE " the wedding was on July 25 th 2021 at 3 o'clock . They were REALLY getting married. Andrew could not believe it, although he was happy with Lara he always thought she would wait for him, she said she would always have feelings for him. She said she would always love him.  Of course Maggie was extremely happy about the wedding, her best friend was getting married! She helped Victoria with all the wedding planning, and was with her every step of the way. 

Finally the big day was here and Victoria was getting married to her high school sweetheart Nigel. It was at the local country club and there where over 300 people at the reception,  Very deep down she knew she still felt a tiny spark for Andrew but remembered how she felt when he broke her heart and decided to go through with the marriage. When it was time to walk down the aisle she was ready and confident and extremely happy she was going to marry Nigel. Andrew arrived with Lara to the wedding and took their seats. They were sitting beside Maggie and her boyfriend of over two years Mathew. Victoria started walking down the aisle and got up to where Nigel was and held hands with as the father talked. When the father said " is there anyone who opposes to this marriage? speak now or forever hold your peace" Maggie gave Andrew a look hoping that he would stand up and say something but he didn't. After the ceremony Maggie asked him why didn't you say anything? he said  "because there's no point in hurting her anymore she's happy with Nigel she deserves to be happy". When Andrew heard her say " I do " a little piece of him died inside, He felt a little emptier. And at that moment he realized he did love her. Victoria was the love of his life but now, now it was too late. 

A few months after the wedding Andrew proposed to Lara and Maggie and Matthew had been engaged for a few weeks now. Everyone was "happy" or so they made it look like anyways. Years passed and they had all graduated college, Started families but one cold December night Victoria and Andrew run into each other at the airport and it happened to be exactly December 17th.The day Andrew came back to Canada from Colombia. They felt that spark again, they felt that connection once again. And from that moment on they decided to run away together they bought two tickets to Bali, Indonesia and they called their spouses and told them their marriages were over and since they're children where all of legal age now they didn't have to worry about that, It only took 57 years but in the end Andrew and Victoria ended up together. They started their love on a cold rusty playground and now they're  starting it again on the beautiful beaches of Bali.