Chapter 2
942 Words
Chapter 2 — Before Goodbye
Seven years earlier...
"You're late."
Emma looked at the man standing beneath the old acacia tree and smiled.
"I know."
Daniel crossed his arms.
"Twenty-three minutes."
"Twenty-three?"
"Twenty-three."
Emma laughed.
"You actually counted?"
"I counted every minute."
She walked toward him, holding two cups of coffee.
"Then you deserve this."
Daniel took one cup from her.
"Bribery?"
"Apology."
He took a sip.
"Accepted."
Emma smiled.
They had been doing this for almost two years.
Meeting beneath the same tree.
Sharing coffee.
Talking about everything and nothing.
Dreaming about a future neither of them completely understood yet.
Daniel looked at her.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Because you're easy to forgive."
"That's because you're in love with me."
Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Who said I'm in love with you?"
"You did."
"When?"
"Every time you look at me."
She rolled her eyes.
"You're becoming arrogant."
"I'm becoming confident."
"There's a difference."
Daniel laughed.
Then he reached for her hand.
The laughter disappeared.
Emma looked down at their intertwined fingers.
There was something about holding his hand that always made the world feel quieter.
Daniel squeezed her fingers gently.
"Emma."
"Hmm?"
"After graduation, I'm going to find a job."
"I know."
"And I'm going to save enough money."
"For what?"
He looked directly into her eyes.
"For us."
Emma's heart skipped.
"Daniel..."
"I mean it."
He sat on the bench beneath the tree.
"I don't know where we'll end up. Maybe somewhere far from here. Maybe we'll have a small house. Maybe we'll have a garden."
"A garden?"
"Yes."
"What will we plant?"
"Whatever you want."
"Even roses?"
"Especially roses."
Emma smiled.
"And what if I want a big house?"
Daniel laughed.
"Then I'll work harder."
"What if I want to travel?"
"Then we'll travel."
"What if I want..."
She stopped.
Daniel waited.
"What?"
Emma looked at him.
"Nothing."
He smiled.
"Tell me."
"What if life doesn't go according to plan?"
Daniel became quiet.
Then he took her hand again.
"Then we'll make a new plan."
Emma stared at him.
"Together?"
"Together."
Those words stayed with her.
Together.
She didn't know then how much she would need them.
---
That evening, they walked home slowly.
The sun was beginning to disappear behind the buildings.
Daniel carried Emma's bag over his shoulder.
"You know I can carry my own bag."
"I know."
"Then give it back."
"No."
"Daniel."
"No."
She laughed.
"You are impossible."
"And you're still walking beside me."
"Unfortunately."
He stopped.
"So you admit you like being with me?"
Emma turned around.
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Fine."
She smiled.
"I love being with you."
Daniel's expression softened.
"I love you too."
Simple words.
But Emma believed them.
She believed their love could survive anything.
She believed tomorrow would look like today.
She believed Daniel would always be there.
She was wrong about one thing.
Tomorrow would not look like today.
---
The following morning, Emma woke up to three missed calls from an unknown number.
She stared at the screen.
She didn't recognize it.
A message followed.
We need to talk.
Emma frowned.
Another message appeared.
It's about Daniel.
Her heart immediately tightened.
She called the number.
No answer.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
For the rest of the morning, she couldn't concentrate.
Who was this person?
And what did they want with Daniel?
That afternoon, she finally received another message.
Come alone. 6:00 p.m.
There was an address attached.
Emma stared at it.
She knew the place.
An old café on the other side of town.
She should have ignored the message.
She knew that.
But there was one sentence she couldn't ignore.
It's about Daniel.
At exactly six o'clock, Emma entered the café.
A man was sitting alone in the far corner.
He looked up when she approached.
"Emma?"
"Who are you?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he pushed an envelope across the table.
Emma looked at it.
"What is this?"
"Something you need to see."
She hesitated.
Then she opened it.
Her face slowly lost its color.
Photographs.
Documents.
A name she recognized.
And information about Daniel that she had never known.
Emma's hands began to tremble.
"This isn't possible."
The man leaned closer.
"You love him, don't you?"
Emma looked up.
"Yes."
"Then you need to decide how much you're willing to sacrifice for him."
Her heart pounded.
"What are you talking about?"
The man stood.
"You'll understand soon."
He walked away.
Emma remained at the table.
She looked at the photographs again.
Then at the documents.
Her eyes filled with tears.
For the first time in her life, she was afraid of the future.
Not because she was afraid of losing Daniel.
But because she was beginning to realize...
loving him might be the very thing that could destroy his life.
---
That night, Daniel waited beneath their old tree.
He had bought two cups of coffee.
One for himself.
One for Emma.
He checked his phone.
No message.
He smiled anyway.
"She'll come."
He waited.
Ten minutes.
Thirty minutes.
An hour.
The coffee became cold.
But Daniel stayed.
He didn't know that, only a few streets away, Emma was sitting alone in her bedroom, crying over the papers she had been given.
She held Daniel's photograph against her chest.
"I love you," she whispered.
Then she closed her eyes.
And for the first time, she allowed herself to imagine a life without him.
It was unbearable.
But somewhere deep inside her heart, a terrible thought had already begun to form.
Maybe leaving him was the only way to save him.
And that was the night Emma's beautiful love story began its journey toward goodbye.
---
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