THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

Watching the love of your life get married to your best friend is one of the most painful things one can ever experience in their entire life. This is what happened to Christian. The love of his life, Victoria, who only saw him as a friend, got married to the man she loves with all her heart. He had always loved Victoria even though they were not from the same societal class. Christian’s parents were peasant farmers in the town of St Louisa. Victoria on the other hand, was the daughter of a rich merchant, who was known for his quality clothing materials. He would travel to the city to get the best of clothing materials just for the seamstresses in the town. Everyone loved buying from him. One day, he died from a short illness which baffled everyone.

Before he died, he had a cotton plantation that was making him lots of money. Lots of factories came to him for his quality cotton. The man virtually had taste. He had good taste in everything. That is why he married one of the most beautiful women in the town. And they both gave birth to the beautiful Victoria.

She had beautiful dark, curly hair that was as dark as the color of coal. Her skin was flawless and white. Her lips were small and red. And each time she smiled, she had dimples appearing on each side of her mouth. She was the envy of all the maidens in the town. Every girl wanted to be her. They were all envious of her beauty. As she grew up and her beauty continued to show, she got the attention of another rich man's son, Franco. Franco was the most wanted bachelor in town. All the girls wanted to be married to him. Be it poor or rich, they all wanted to be the wife of Franco. But he paid no heed to any of them. He only cared about Victoria.

Christian’s parents worked for Victoria's family. They worked on the cotton plantations with all the other peasant farmers who wanted to find work and help their families. Victoria's father was a very generous man. He treated all his workers well and trained their children in school. That is why the man was so loved. Victoria and Christian became very good friends because she found him to be very easy going and a very caring person. She loved how he was so carefree and also a gentleman at the same time. They knew each other since they were children so most people always said they would always end up getting married.

Christian had somehow started to develop feelings for Victoria as they grew. He loved her with everything he had and always protected her from the bullies in town. He loved her that much. But Victoria just saw him as a friend and that hurt Christian a lot. He never ever told Victoria how he felt about her because he was scared he would lose her totally. He did not want that, so he decided to keep quiet and suffer in silence.

Christian and Franco were very close friends. They knew everything about each other and had been friends for quite a long time. So when Franco told him about his interest in Victoria, that day was so terrible for him. Franco even asked him to help him get Victoria's love. And when he got to know that Victoria also loved Franco with the same intensity, he felt completely miserable. That day he wanted to blurt out to Victoria how much he loves her but he just could not. That evening, he went to the local bar and got drunk. Something he has never done before. His cousin Alex is the one who came to get him from the bar. He was so sad that he began to cry. When Alex came, he could not handle himself. He began to cry so much. Alex was the only one who knew about the love he had for Victoria. His parents knew of his friendship with Victoria but did not know that he loved her.

Christian is a very handsome and tall man with features any man would die to have. Yet, he was one of the most caring and kind hearted men in the town. Franco, another man who was very handsome in the eyes, was one of the handsome men around. Christian had ladies throwing themselves at him left, right and center yet he only loved one woman, Victoria.

The day Victoria agreed to marry Franco, that was when he realized he had lost her for good. Their wedding was grand and the rich and mighty from the neighboring towns all came by to witness the wedding. Christian, who by then was working for Franco's family on their cotton plantation as a foreman, had to be there as Franco's best man. He felt so out of place and wanted to boycott the wedding but he had no option than to go. The two were his friends and he could not do that to them. So he agreed and attended. At the wedding reception, he had to pretend and smile and feel happy for the newlyweds. But his heart felt something else. His heart was calling out for Victoria who was happy by Franco's side.

He could not even join in the dance. He sat down at one side of the table alone as he watched the groom and bride dance and laughed. He began to shed a tear when he could no longer take it anymore. He walked over to the bride and groom and excused himself. He wiped the tears off his face as he approached them.

He smiled as he slowly patted on the back of Franco, who was happily dancing with his wife. Franco turned and looked at him still with a smile on his face and Victoria in his arms.

“Christian, my man. Are you enjoying yourself?” Franco happily asked.

“Yes. but, I actually came to say goodbye to you. I want to go home. You see, I have to be at work tomorrow and it's already late. And you know I don't like staying out late,” Christian explained.

“Yeah, that's true. Well thank you so much for being here for us. It means a lot to me and Victoria,” Franco stated.

“I'm glad i could make it. Anyway, I wish you guys all the happiness in the world. Enjoy your honeymoon,” Christian replied and shook hands with Franco was so happy that he didn't notice Christian's eyes glistening with tears. But, Victoria, who knew Christian better, took notice of it. And as Christian walked away from them, she just could not stop herself from following him.