Once Upon a Time I Loved You - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Nathan drove home at the fastest speed ever. He ran into the deliveryman at the neighborhood. entrance, but the man was empty–handed.

“Where’s my delivery?” Nathan grabbed him. “I thought you said I had a delivery from Kathleen Floss?” 

The deliveryman looked shocked. “Mr. Meyer, your wife signed the parcel on your behalf. I just delivered it to her.”

“I have no wife!”

“Eh? But the lady just now said she was Mrs. Meyer…”

Nathan rushed into the villa. “Kelsey White!”

Kelsey/shuddered in the bathroom when she heard his voice. She tossed the stuff in her hand. into the toilet and tried to flush it down, but Nathan had barged into the bathroom.

He snatched the box from Kelsey and worriedly checked its contents. Inside the box, he found a collection of photographs–his life captured in snapshots. There he was, frozen in time–a teenager in a school uniform, an athlete in a basketball jersey, a young man in a suit, and a man looking relaxed in loungewear.

Kathleen, the photographer, had captured him from different angles.

He was familiar with some of the photos, but the others were taken candidly without his knowledge. Her skills visibly improved in the photos. Her early works were amateurish, slowly, he saw the evolution of her craft her understanding of light and shadows and the way she framed his face.

She had used him as her practice subject. The earlier photos, though unpolished, were taken with much love. He looked brilliant, almost shining, in her shots.

Her love for him was evident in the photos. The boy in her photos grew up. In those photos, Nathan was sometimes focused on working or eating dinner. He was the subject of every single photo she took.

He flipped through the photos madly before bursting into tears. Then, he started laughing. Oh, Kathleen was in love with him. These photos were her confession, a love letter she had been writing to him for years.

Finally, he reached the last photo. His heart stopped. It was a wedding photo–himself in a crisp white suit, holding Kelsey’s hand.

The photo sent a sharp pain through his chest. He pressed a hand over his heart as the photo fluttered to the floor. He reached out to grab the photo, only to find out Kathleen had written something behind that photo. It was definitely her handwriting!

She wrote, “Nate, you’re right. I will be calling you Nathan from today onward. Nathan, I wish you happiness.”

Nathan felt empty on the inside. He fervently went through all the photos and found her handwriting behind each one.

“Nate, you look so cool on the basketball court!”

“Nate, I’m 18 now! I’m a legal adult who can choose the man she loves. I love you, you know?”

“Nate, I secretly took a photo of you again. You look scary when you’re angry, but you’re never angry at me. Am I special to you?”

“Naté, we’ll be together in the future, right? I don’t know. I feel more unsure as time passes. Can you give me an answer?”

“Nate, I didn’t write that love letter to David! But I assume you care a lot about me because you were so mad over it.”

“Nate, do you love me as a woman or a sister?”

“Nate…” In one photo, Kathleen’s handwriting trailed off. The photo had obviously been torn in half. The rest of the sentence was gone.

Driven crazy, Nathan grabbed Kelsey’s wrist. “Where’s the other half of the photo?”

“Nate, calm down. You’re scaring me…”

“I’m asking you about the other half of the photo. Answer me!‘

Emboldened, she pointed at the toilet. “I tore it up and flushed it away. Ah-”

She screamed when Nathan pushed her onto the ground. She fell hard onto the surface.

Trembling, she complained, “Nate, I can’t believe Kathy harbored romantic feelings for you! How dare she send these photos to you? What if people leaked these photos to the press? Your reputation will take a hit. I’m getting rid of these photos in your best interest-”

“Get lost!”

“I won’t! I’m your legal wife. Nate, I’ll keep you company now that Kathy’s not around anymore–Ahhh!” Kelsey scrambled up from the floor to hug him, but he showed her no mercy.”

He pushed her to the ground and warned her, “I don’t want to hit a woman. Just leave.”

“Nate…”

“Leave!”

Knowing that Nathan was at the height of his anger, she offered, “I’ll make you some food. You must be famished. I’m going to-”

He hissed at her, “Get out of the house I share with Kathy.”