He unpacked the final box. In the box, lay a wooden cup and a bowl, carefully wrapped with newspaper. Larry proceeded to remove the newspaper from them with caution. Almost instantly, the smell of fresh pine filled the air. And almost instantly, his tears fell from his eyes, to the parquet.
It wasn't long before she had left. Larry loved her. Loved her to the point he felt himself gripping on too tight, and he felt the need to go. Leave her. She - Charlotte - just all of a sudden, felt too good for him. Everything she did was perfect. And all he did - even as a cardiologist, seemed meagre. Charlotte worked at the museum. It was her second love, Larry had thought in the beginning. She sorted out events, wrote those little notes beneath paintings for people to read, held showcases. But there was one thing that she spent her time on the most, were wood carvings. Her office's shelves were lined with wood carvings from Indonesia, Turkey, everywhere she went, she'd find a wood carving somehow, and she'd buy it. Charlotte spent her time polishing its little corners and curves until each of them shone. Larry had met her at a charity event held at the museum she worked at. Larry found her peculiar and interesting in her lovely ways, how she had danced across the hall gracefully in the chiffon skirt.
"I must be cursed," Larry murmured to himself, "I just can't forget about her." He put the wooden items down and smirked at the flashback of when Charlotte had bought them for him. It was his birthday. Everything was exceptional that day, Charlotte made the most incredible effort to host a birthday party for Dr Ray, Mr Cardiologist. He remembered how her soft brown curls bounced upon her shoulders everytime she leapt in joy at something. Her bright smile, the spread of her lips to reveal a perfect set of white teeth, as if like a constellation. Her earthy green eyes that sparkled everytime Larry saw her. And the pine smell that wafted behind, everytime she had walked past him. It was a homely scent, odd to be perfume, but Charlotte loved it.
As each memory of her floated through his mind, the agony hit him harder. He looked around him, his own office. He looked at the door in front of him and imagined the beautiful woman he once loved, burst in again with Chinese food from the eatery down the block, her smile plastered on her perfect face. Larry looked to his left on his desk. Perfectly framed, was Charlotte in his embrace. The sight of it made him want to scream in agony. He began to reprimand himself for letting her go, for hurting her, for leaving all the broken pieces behind for her to pick up. He buried his head in his palms, devastation and regret bursting through his vessels. He remembered the call, and he remembered how he dropped the receiver, how he collapsed on the floor in a mound of hopelessness and agony.
"Charlotte...," The voice, whom was both Charlotte and Larry's good friend, "She committed suicide."
The name just lingered on his lips. He had destroyed a once bubbly girl. Why? He had begun to question himself. The day that Larry decided to conclude their journey together, Charlotte just kept silent. She didn't know what to do. The man she loved so much just packed her bags and left. It felt as if the most integral part of your body - your heart - was ripped away. She felt empty. Charlotte had wrapped herself around numbness. She quit her job, and all she did was stay in what was their apartment, watching reruns of Ugly Betty.
Then one day, she leapt. Leapt from the window of their New York apartment. She was free.
The parcel came. Larry knew, that one day, it would. He didn't think it would be when she left. It was a few days right after her passing. The carefully wrapped cup and bowl. The pine scent.
Just as Larry wanted to chuck the box away, he noticed a bright green note, folded, lying at the bottom of it.
Goodbye, goodbye
My angel is gone
My hope, my life
He's left to live in a better place
He's gone to meet a better face
A girl who's better
Brighter
And happier
Goodbye, goodbye
Pardon my foolishness
For an escape too easy
I am weak
You were my strength
My all
Goodbye, goodbye
Dr Larry Ray
Mr Cardiologist
My Guardian Angel
- C.
Larry picked up his lamp shade and placed it on his head, and began to sing Sweet Home Alabama. He was then admitted to the hospital for treatment. He got burnt by the light bulb. Idiot.
but still, appreciate who you have
because you don't know what you got till it's gone