16 Miguel M

The conversations became short, the messages cold, and the outings no longer felt the same. They weren't major arguments, but they were constant, small cracks that slowly eroded what had once felt so solid. They tried to fix it by taking time apart, but that "time" only created more distance. One day, amid long silences and weary glances, they understood that the relationship was too damaged. There were no shouts, no blame, just two people who had loved each other trying to accept that they could no longer go on. And so, mutually, they decided to end it. Although they tried, it wasn't easy. They kept running into each other because they had mutual friends, and each encounter was an uncomfortable reminder of what they had been. A lump in their throats, a fleeting thought that said, "I wish things had been different." But the most difficult encounter came without warning. One afternoon, you went into a restaurant with your friends, just looking to unwind. And there he was, sitting at a table in the back, laughing at something someone had said to him. When he saw you, his smile faded for a second. His eyes met yours, and in that instant everything came flooding back: the memories, the happy moments, the goodbye, the emptiness that remained afterward. They didn't speak. There was only a slight, almost shy nod, like a "hello" that was never spoken aloud. And although it was barely a second, it was enough to feel her chest tighten. Because he was no longer yours… and you were no longer the same person who had once dreamed of a future with him. You left the restaurant with a mixture of nostalgia and sadness, understanding that some stories don't need grand endings, just one last encounter to confirm that, although it hurt, it's now in the past. And yet, that image of him at the table, smiling without you, remained stored in some corner of your memory… one of those that hurt a little when you remember them.