The Visit
708 Words
Three months.
That’s how long it took before Malik finally asked.
“When are you coming to see me?”
The question lingered between us.
Not because I didn’t want to answer.
Because I was terrified of the answer.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“You don’t have to.”
“But I want to.”
He sighed softly.
“Alina… I don’t ever want you to feel like you owe me anything.”
“I don’t.”
“You have a life outside these walls.”
“And you’re part of it.”
Silence.
The kind that carried more emotion than words ever could.
“I’ll come,” I finally said.
⸻
The drive to the prison felt longer than it really was.
Every mile gave me another chance to turn around.
Every exit tempted me to go home.
Instead, I kept driving.
My palms were sweaty as the prison appeared in the distance.
Tall fences.
Concrete walls.
Guard towers.
Razor wire glistening under the morning sun.
It looked nothing like the place I’d imagined after hearing him describe it.
It looked worse.
Inside, officers checked my identification before directing me through metal detectors.
“Remove your jewelry.”
“Empty your pockets.”
“Step through.”
Everything echoed.
Every door buzzed before unlocking.
Every hallway reminded me that freedom could disappear with the sound of a closing gate.
When they finally escorted me into the visitation room, my heart pounded so loudly I thought everyone could hear it.
Rows of tables.
Plastic chairs.
Families laughing.
Children hugging fathers they hadn’t seen in months.
Women fixing their hair while pretending not to be nervous.
I suddenly felt completely out of place.
“What if he doesn’t recognize me?”
“What if this is awkward?”
“What if we’re different in person?”
Before I could talk myself into leaving…
The side door opened.
One by one, men in matching uniforms walked into the room.
My eyes searched every face.
Then…
I saw him.
Malik.
He looked older than I remembered.
Stronger.
The years had hardened parts of him, but somehow his smile was exactly the same.
The moment our eyes met…
Everything else disappeared.
He smiled.
Not the polite smile he’d given everyone else.
The smile that belonged only to me.
My feet refused to move.
He laughed quietly.
“You gonna make me walk all the way over there?”
I laughed through my tears.
“I think I forgot how.”
When we finally stood in front of each other, neither of us spoke.
We simply looked.
Really looked.
As if we were trying to memorize every detail before time stole it away again.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“You look different.”
“In a bad way?”
I smiled.
“No.”
“You look… free.”
His smile faded just enough for sadness to slip through.
“I wish I was.”
The officer cleared his throat.
“You can sit now.”
We both laughed.
For the next three hours, we talked about everything.
Our favorite songs.
Childhood memories.
Dream vacations.
The books we’d been reading.
The future.
The kind of future that felt impossible to everyone else…
But somehow still felt real to us.
Then the announcement came.
“Visitation is over.”
My heart dropped.
“No…”
I wasn’t ready.
Neither was he.
He stood slowly.
“I hate this part.”
“So do I.”
He reached for my hand one last time.
“I don’t know how long it’ll take…”
“But one day…”
“I’m walking out of here.”
I squeezed his hand tighter.
“I’ll be waiting.”
He looked into my eyes with a seriousness I’d never seen before.
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
“No matter what happens in here…”
“Don’t lose yourself trying to hold on to me.”
I wanted to promise.
Instead…
I just cried.
Because deep down…
I already knew.
I was falling in love with a man whose world ended at a prison gate.
And I had no idea whether that love would save me…
Or slowly break my heart.
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