#WritcoStoryPrompt111
If you believe in reincarnation, who would you choose as your next life form if you had the chance?

"I would choose to be the person you'd come home to."

If we met before you fell in love with him, would we ever have a chance to end up together? If I told you from the beginning how he played you behind your back, would you have believed every word I said?

Maybe.

If I didn't antagonized you first and turned myself into your enemy, maybe you would eventually believe me. I guess, being the annoying sister of the man you love is a drawback. What's done is done though. All there is left to go is forward. So, I did.

"You're so annoying!"

You said that the first time I made myself clear that I am interested in you—well, in a not so obvious way. I am sorry if pouring cold water on you didn't woke you up from your infatuation with him. But, let me tell you—you look so beautiful when you were angry. Your entire face turns pink and your eyes shone so bright, they were nearly blinding.

Maybe that was the reason why I love making you angry.

'The more you hate, the more you love.'—they said. Maybe that was my goal from the beginning. Plus, you were always so cold towards me unless my brother is around to spectate a possible banter. Having been the only person to get under your nerves is a big achievement.

Everyday my brother comes home with you in tow, you always looked so tired. But brother can't seem to see that. He's never been the gentleman you thought he would be after an entire year of being together. The look of misery on your face at the realization of that makes me want to punch him hard. Maybe, if I did that, he'd wake up and change completely.

But humans weren't programmed to become like that.

So, I did my best to divert your pain to me. I teased you, pranked you, and irritated you to no end because your irritation and curses towards me were better than the sadness and tears I don't ever want to see from your face.

Things which were meant to happen, will happen, anyway.

One day, the inevitable came to say 'Hello'.

"How dare you cheat on me with my best friend?! I trusted you!"

The storm in your eyes were so strong, they could literally blow me away if I let you. And if I were to sail in them, my boat would eventually sink to the bottom.

"You disgust me. She's already married and you slept with her without even a tiny shade of remorse?"

You were crying when you turned around. Seeing me there, you decided to escape and shoved me out of the door before sprinting away under the faint drizzle of rain. My brother just stood there watching your retreating back.

"Aren't you going to follow her?" I asked him.

"Why would I do that? She chose to leave. I was explaining myself. She was always so stubborn and impulsive."

At that point, I've crossed out the first thing I wanted to do before I die in my bucket list. To punch my one and only brother and break his nose. I broke my knuckles open too but, I didn't really cared. It was more of a payback than anything else.

Then I followed her.

She was sitting alone in a sidewalk chair, waiting for a bus. Already drenched from head to toe, I still stood behind her and shared my umbrella.

"You don't need to come here and ridicule me. Do not worry, I'd completely vanish from your life from this day onwards."

You were dramatic and hiccuping when you said that. I get it. But I wanted to congratulate you for breaking away from the buffoon who is my brother. So...

"You were stupid to run away without an umbrella. You could have at least left in elegance and showed him what he's losing."

Uh—maybe not so much as a 'congratulations!' compliment. You'd prefer it this way, believe me.

"What?" Your confusion made me laugh.

"Don't cry. Your tears make you even more ugly than normal days."

I lifted my hand and brushed your cheeks with my thumb like some mindless soul seeking warmth. You flinched. What? You were expecting me to slap you? Come on. I was glad you didn't went all out and killed me on the spot for even touching you.

"You confuse me."

Oh. You confuse me too. In fact, I thought about you a lot after that day. But then, you left the town and you never came back again.l for years. You vanished like a ghost. Like you never existed there in the first place.

Tragic.

Well—I was kidding.

I met you again in my last year of university—as my professor. Imagine my surprise? Yes. I saw it on your face too. You look like a fish caught out of the water. But I nearly had a heart attack too when a child came barreling on you while we were staring eye-to-eye in the hallway. When I thought I could finally let my feelings free to you...

"Mommy!! Up!" She said. Jumping up and down while carrying a shopping bag. "Look! I got you a scarf."

The tenderness in your eyes when you gazed down upon her is already a clear answer. I never thought heartbreak could persist for years like this one. I never even thought I am capable of feeling it.

And honestly, I never imagined you having a child of your own. Perhaps, that's just me, imagining myself being with you.

But who am I to judge.

I bit my bottom lip and turned away. It would be better to become the spectator once again than be the main character, defying all the ups and downs. I pretended we never knew each other until I finished my degree. Everyday, I saw your husband fetch you and drop you off at school.

I saw how happy you were.

"If I told you before how I feel, would you believe me? If I told you, I love you—could you have stayed?"

The answer is—I'll never know.

We don't live in what if's. What we didn't do in the past, will stay in the past untouched as we regret not doing them here, in the present.

So, yes.

If I die today, I'd wish that in my next life, I'd be more courageous. I won't antagonize you and let you slip away. You'd never have to find another home when I could be your home instead.

You know, you were that person to me...

The one that got away. #

© astaire_grey