The Man by the Bus Stop – Finale

Hi Everybody!

This is the conclusion of the story. I’m actually happy that it’s done. I have been thinking of making it into a broader story, but I don’t want to over complicate the main gist of the story. It’s kind of strange but I kind of got emotional as I was writing it. I’m not really good at writing sad tales, but the inspiration for this story came to me after I had a vision of a man sitting at the bus stop. Weird huh? Well, that’s all folks! Happy Reading 😀

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“Tell her that though she has forgotten the promise that we made to each other with the vow that I said I would never break, though she has turned away and left my heart and given hers to someone else, I will always love her… always and forever. Tell her Simone… tell her that I forgive her for abandoning this promise and love that I have for her. There is no hatred in my heart towards her even now… and though my heart is broken, I will always love her no matter what she decides to do in the end.”

He smiled a very painful smile that could make your heart break as another tear ran down his face. You could tell that all He could think about was about His runaway bride.

What kind of girl was she that He couldn’t let this chick go! Simone thought about it feeling rather annoyed as she felt herself filling up with anger and swelling with envy. She doesn’t deserve this awesome looking guy!!! If she didn’t want Him, then I’ll gladly take Him! is what she thought, realizing like she sounded like someone on the rebound.

Simone simply couldn’t accept this guys resolve to forgive such a blaring betrayal of this precious love that He once shared with a woman to whom she felt did not deserve His heart at all. Even though Simone had never met her, she had no sympathy for such a pathetic-minded woman who did not even think twice about cheating on the guy who was in a war overseas fighting to come back to His fiance. Simone was so infuriated that she really wanted this guy to let go of this sorry excuse of a relationship and move on with appreciation because He now knew the true colours of this cheating tramp. She could not understand how such a devoted guy ended up with such a girl who clearly had loose morals and yet be able to love her the way that He did.

Give up on her already!!!! she screamed inside her head as Simone continued to seethe with anger, feeling completely outraged that He could remain unrelentingly faithful enough to forgive such a betrayal that was the cause of His bleeding heart. Simone began to yell at Him while feeling emotional and out of control,

“How could you honestly forgive such a woman who doesn’t even remotely deserve you let alone doesn’t even seem to care that you exist! How could y…”

“How could I not?” He interrupted.

“I have always loved her.” he said calmly without batting an eyelid.

His unrelenting devotion was really starting to bother Simone quite a lot because she had a billion things she needed to say based on her experience with heartbreak; however, she decided not to interrupt Him out of politeness as He continued on to speak.

“Simone, you may not know this but there came a time where she began to love me too. When the reality of my line of work and the things I had to sacrifice began to surface during the course of our relationship, it seemed apparent that I may have overlooked how it may have been too much for her to handle. I assumed that the love we shared between us could withstand any trial. How wrong I was… Even though I promised her I would return… for her, it could be that she suffered while she waited for me. It could be that she grew weary of me and my promise…and it could be that she had finally decided to give up on me….She probably thought I was dead which isn’t necessarily far from the truth. She doesn’t know that if it hadn’t been for her being in my heart, I would not have fought to live for her once again. The day I came back from the dead was when I vowed I’d never die like that again and leave her alone like that again….that’s why Simone…” He shifted His body to look directly at Simone and said,

“I don’t want you to hate her because there is no hate in my heart for her….Try to understand where she is coming from too. She is my lifeline. She brought me back to life because she is the very reason that I live. I won’t taint my new reborn heart with bitterness….even though the sorrow I feel is too difficult to bear, I still have faith in her.”

Simone began to calm down feeling speechless to His confession. She seriously did not know how to take what he was saying to her at all. His message to her was far from over as he continue on to say,

“Simone, please promise me that you’ll tell her that I have faith in her… and please tell her that I will wait until she returns her heart back to me even if it takes forever”.

Simone had never heard such heart-rending words like that from any guy she had ever met. It made her feel foolish for being so callous about His ex-fiance. The guy spoke with such honest feeling in His words that she could not find it in her heart to deny His request.

“Ok… I’ll help you find her and tell her what you told me…” was what she said as she nodded in reassurance that she would keep her promise, unlike a certain someone that He cared for.

It occurred to her that her own relationship with Clive was one filled with many broken promises on both their parts. Simone began to wonder if that was the reason for such a failed relationship in the first place. Both of them were selfish and unreasonable when it came down to it. She began to realize that she had not loved Clive in the way that this guy loved His fiance. It could also be possible that Clive also didn’t even know the meaning of true love either, since he gave up on their relationship so easily and so soon. How Simone wished she had a guy like the one sitting next to her at that moment…

Wait a minute, she didn’t even know His name but He knew hers…how in the world was that possible! she thought.

She wanted to ask Him about that when all of a sudden the bus she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

“Oh it seems that the bus is here, are you getting on?” she asked Him. While He was putting on His silk gloves, she noticed that His face was dry from all the crying and was now starting to glow. When had he wiped the tears off His face??? she wondered. She was there the whole time and never saw Him once use the Kleenex tissue that she had offered to Him earlier. He began to smile as if He could read her thoughts which kind of freaked her out. 

“Here” He said, as He handed her a red umbrella that Simone was certain was not with Him earlier. “Take this umbrella Simone. I don’t want you to get wet from the rain”.

She took the umbrella without thinking as she asked Him

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“I’m waiting for the next bus” He answered back. “Thank you for listening to my story Simone.” is what He said as He continued to smile radiantly. It seems that off loading this burdensome story had been a therapeutic experience for this amazing guy that now stood upright and cheerful.

              I guess this promise means a lot to Him, is what she thought as she took the umbrella off His hands.

“You’re Welcome,” she replied as she turned around to step onto the bus to pay the fair.

Before she could leave, the Man turned to Simone and said, “Simone…here, take this rose as my way of saying thank you for listening to Me and goodbye.” He said that as He handed her the white rose that was once nestled in the breast pocket of His wedding tux. Simone took the rose and smiled at it thinking it was a strange but romantic gesture. She looked back at Him and noticed that His face looked different. It looked like it was glowing even more than before as He continued to smile at her with such a kind smile that it was quite breath-taking.

“Are ya gettin’ on or are ya gettin’ off lady?” asked the rude bus driver to Simone who seemed to be in lala land feeling mesmerized by this new expression that she had not seen on the guy’s face the whole night until now. She turned to face the bus driver who had rudely awakened her from this wonderful moment and replied,

“Sorry, I’m getting on, I’m getting on, gees can’t you just wait?”

The bus driver shut the doors behind her immediately ignoring her remarks just before she could do or say anything. Simone swung around quickly wanting to wave  goodbye to the perfect stranger and ask for His name and number, but it was too late. The man had already disappeared so quickly that she wondered,

             How and where did He go? Where the heck did the guy go?

She was so stunned at the guy’s sudden departure that she crouched into the nearest seat to contemplate what had just happened. The whole evening was just so weird and she knew for sure that it was not a dream because she had the red umbrella in her hand to prove it and yet the whole encounter still felt like a dream, or something out of the twilight zone. She looked at the umbrella carefully and thought,

             Wow this looks a lot like the one I left at Clive’s place. Hey wait a minute….!

She grabbed the handle of the umbrella and inspected it a little further and searched the handle to make sure that her eyes were not deceiving her. Her real umbrella had her name inscribed on it so she had to make sure that her mind was not playing tricks on her. She scanned the handle and recognized the name written on it was in the same penmanship as her own except that it didn’t just say “Simone” on the handle. Instead, what was inscribed on the handle now said:

“Thank you Simone – Emmanuel“.

Emmanuel…is that the guy’s name? What a gorgeous name for a perfect stranger. Simone thought as she began to smile and giggle at herself reminiscing about this strange gift that He had given her and contemplated about the weirdness of this whole entire situation. It had just occurred to her that the depression she had been milling around earlier during the course of the entire evening was now gone. She felt very light for some reason… like as if a warm feeling was now enveloping her heart.  

She smiled to herself and thought “Thanks Emmanuel. I thought I was going to be alone this whole night but you came just in time.”

Just then she had remembered the white rose that he had given her as they had parted and searched her bag wanting to view it again. She felt one of the petals of the flower and managed to pull it out of her lulu lemon bag. To her amazement, the flower that she had drawn out was no longer white in colour, but now had turned bright red. Simone could not believe that this was the same rose He had given her. Wasn’t it white earlier or was it red? I’m so sure it was white, why is it red now???? She thought as she examined the flower carefully. I must be imagining things, she reasoned. Simone continued to examine the flower and noticed that at the base of the stem was a small white note wrapped around it like one of those you would see on a Hershey Kiss chocolate. Simone unraveled the note to read what was written while contemplating  how sure she was that this little piece of paper was not there before. She reasoned that maybe she had not noticed it was on the rose earlier when the guy had given it to her as His parting gift since everything was done in such a rush and she was still getting sober by the minute. She unraveled the note and inside it it read:

                          To my bride – I love you always, now and forever. (John 3:16).

Simone began to feel a tidal wave of emotions envelope her as she began to choke up and cry while reading the note. She started to laugh at the same time as she began to realize the true identity of Emmanuel’s bride. She clasped the gift in her hand as she closed her eyes to whisper “Thank you” to the perfect stranger.

The End.