The Letter - Chapter 1 - Lost Love
Landon’s P.O.V.
Every day is the same. I get up, I go to work, and I go home. Of course, I’m leaving out the pain and emptiness in my chest that has been there for a few months. The day my sweet love Jillian left me was the worst day of my life.
We had everything, or at least I thought we did. At twenty-six, I’m an economics professor at a junior college. I don’t think I’m bad to look at with black hair and green eyes, but who am I to judge?
Jill and I were college sweethearts. When I saw her for the first time during our freshman year across the college campus, everything else disappeared. She was an angel with long chestnut brown hair that flowed to her waist in waves. She had the biggest blue eyes I’d ever seen.
Everything was great all through college. We were inseparable. She was also studying to be an educator, but her focus was on history. I won’t lie; we had a few bumps in the road here and there, but nothing major. I would rather die a painful death than see her shed one tear. I thought she loved me just as much, but apparently, I was wrong.
Things started changing about a year ago. We were done with our education, and we both got positions at the same junior college in a small town in Pennsylvania. We wanted to go to a big, well-established university, but we knew we had to work our way up.
When we first moved, everything was incredible, but then Jill started drifting away from me. She seemed irritated about the little things that used to make her laugh. We rarely made love, no matter how hard I tried. My heart was slowly breaking, but I refused to give up. She was the love of my life.
Then, three months ago, everything went from bad to worse. I came home from work with an engagement ring in my pocket. I know the worst thing you can do is ask someone to marry you to try to fix your relationship, but I loved Jill and wanted her to be my wife. However, the scene that greeted me made my good mood disappear in a second.
I walked into the house, ready to make Jill my fiancé, when I was greeted with a pile of suitcases and bags. I see my love sitting on the steps with her face in her hands, crying. I thought someone had passed away, and she needed to go away for the funeral. That’s the only reason I could think of why she had her things packed.
When I asked her what was wrong, she said she was leaving. Not for a few days or weeks, for good. Jill shattered what was left of my broken heart when she said she no longer loved me. It felt like someone had stuck a knife into my chest. I couldn’t breathe or move as I cried in pain. She was crying, too, but I don’t know why when she’s the one that tore us apart. I begged her to stay and give me another chance, but she refused. A car came to pick her up, and after her bags were loaded, she kissed me on the cheek and said she hoped I had a good life.
That was the last time I saw or heard from her. Jill quit her job at the college and disappeared. When I tried to call her phone, it had been disconnected. No one in her family would give me her new number or tell her I called. They never liked me, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
She came from a prominent family with old family money, and I was in school on a scholarship. I was never good enough for their daughter. I was raised by a single mother who worked two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. She and Jill got along so well that I thought that was another sign that we were meant to be together. Again, I was wrong.
My mom let me cry on her shoulder when Jill left. She had always thought of Jill as the daughter she never had. I think she still hopes she’ll come back to me some day. I had hoped that, too, but the more days, weeks, and months that pass, the more I know that won’t happen. If Jill had felt anything for me at all, she would have reached out by now.
I get home to the house we shared not far from campus, and after grabbing the mail, I go inside and throw it on the kitchen table. The house still smells like Jill. I still see little touches of her everywhere, but I can’t bring myself to get rid of anything. It’s the reminder that our love was real and not just a figment of my imagination.
I change my clothes and heat up some canned soup. I used to love to cook, but now I don’t have the energy. Who am I going to cook for? It’s not fun if there’s no one here to enjoy it. After eating, I take out my laptop and start grading exams. This is something else that reminds me of Jill. We would sit on the couch next to each other, grading papers while eating pizza. It was some of the best nights of my life.
The exams start to run together, and I can barely focus. I have a student assistant who can help, but she seems a little too flirty for my liking. She always tries to find reasons to touch or brush against me. I may be single right now, but my heart is not ready for anyone else. I can’t wait until this semester’s over so I can have someone new.
After I’m done grading, I take a shower and get ready to watch television when I remember that I left the mail on the table. I’m sure it’s nothing important, but who knows. I grab it off the table and a soda out of the fridge before returning to the sofa. The first few envelopes are nothing but bills and ads. I drop everything else when I get to a light blue envelope in the middle of the stack. My heart starts beating so fast I can’t breathe. I recognize the handwriting immediately. It’s a letter from Jill.
