Love Story

Our life contains not only sex but also romantic and loving relationships, which sometimes last for years. Perhaps someone will be interested in the sad story my friend told me.

What is love and does it really exist? I'm afraid no one will give you a definitive answer. Some say it's just chemical processes occurring in the human brain. Others say love is a banal need of the body for sex. Perhaps they are all right in their own way, but there are other examples. I won't stoop to the textbook Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, or many other heroes of literary classics. I

will simply tell my own small story.

Love, as I believe the real one, came to me at 18. The object of my affection was a bit older than me. It seemed like everything was working out for us. We started dating, which lasted about a year. Everything was great! Euphoria! Until we quarreled over some, I don't even remember exactly what, trivial thing. We had a serious fight. About six months later, we accidentally ended up in the same company. I knew she wasn't with anyone. After the party, I insisted on walking her home. We talked, made up. After that, we were practically inseparable.

Never in my life had I felt so good. Despite all the unfriendly talk from neighbors and acquaintances, we practically lived in a common-law marriage, fortunately, our parents didn't object. Things were even heading towards a wedding when she and I had about six months left of studying. Then I finished school. There was no talk of any institute or technical college. How could I leave her even for a week?

But something unforeseen happened: her younger sister got pregnant. Her parents immediately said they couldn't handle two weddings at once. We decided to wait. And we waited! But not for a wedding; a draft notice came. I was sent far away, to the Khabarovsk region. We wrote to each other twice a week, as there was no internet dominance back then.

And three months before my discharge, I received a letter: "I'm sorry, I'm getting married." My beloved didn't wait. It's been a whole 18 years now. I have a wife, a daughter. She has a husband, two children. And everything seems fine. But at night, I dream of her, my first and, probably, my only love. So much for that chemical process.