Chained Hearts

The sound of his flight being called echoed through the terminal—cold, final, unrelenting. Patricia ran through the crowd, her heart pounding louder than the rolling wheels of his luggage. “Xavier!” she cried, breathless, desperate. Her voice carried across the sterile brightness of the airport, but he never turned around. He heard her. She knew he did. Yet his steps never faltered. Tears blurred her vision as the distance between them stretched wider, until all she could see was his back disappearing past the gate. It felt like the world had stopped moving—like everything she had fought for had ended with the sound of that final boarding call. Her knees weakened, but she forced herself to move, to follow, to do something. Anything. But the security line was already closing, and reality was merciless. He was gone. Gone from her life She stumbled out of the terminal, the evening air biting against her skin. The city lights outside flickered against the growing storm. She didn’t care where she was going—only that she had to keep walking, and had to escape the ache clawing at her chest. Then came the blinding light. The blare of a horn. The screech of tires against wet asphalt. And in an instant, everything went silent. A silver necklace slipped from her hand, its delicate chain catching the faint glow of the streetlight before disappearing into the rain-soaked ground. That was the night everything changed—when one heart walked away, and another was left behind, chained by a love the world tried to tear apart.