Unable to believe what he is looking at , he
stood there , shocked and amazed. He was with his wife checking a house to buy
. It wasn't the beauty of the house what amazed him , but it was the house
itself . It was their house, not his and his wife's , but his and hers, the
love of his life.
He was an art student and she was studying
decoration . They used to talk for hours about the house of their dreams .
While looking at the portraits on the walls , he remembered her words " When we get married , I want to hang all the portraits
that you gave to me all over the place. Do you know the portrait of the raining
sky that you gave me after we had a huge fight ? I want it to be the first
thing people see when they get into the house , do you know why ? because you
told me that day that getting back together is a blessing in your life , and
you thank God for sending me to you , just like sending rain to all people.
Also , the one that you drew of me on my birthday is
going to be in the living room , you know why ? because the living room is the
place that I spend most of my time in , and when I look at this picture , I will
see myself in your eyes and…."
The hand over his shoulder took him away from
his memories . "Are you ok dear ?" , his wife asked. " I am fine
, I am fine , let's go into the house and see it " he answered , trying to
put on a smile to hide his memories.
It was all the same , every single detail ,
every single piece just the way they dreamed of . When they got into dining
room , memories of the day they choose the decoration of that room came back.
It was spring , and they were having a picnic . Sitting on the green wet grass
she said " Do you that the love between couples fade away after marriage
?" . He asked her "Why is that ?" , " Because they never do
the things they used to do before marriage , they never go out , they never say
'I love you' , they never have a picnic
like the one that we are having right now " and she pretended to be
upset at him . He took off his glasses
and gave her the 'baby face' look that she has always loved about him and told
her " You know what ? I agree with you , and I can't lie to you and tell
you that both of us will be free to do all of these things , but what about we
bring the picnic that we are having here to our future house ?" , "What
do you mean ?" she asked . "Since you are very good at embroidery ,
then you will make green sheets to put on the dining room table in our future
house , and write the date of this
picnic on it . That way , whenever we are eating , we will feel that we are
having this picnic" . He remembered this while looking at the date on the
tip of the green sheets that were covering the dining table 'July, 4th" .
Mixed feelings of happiness and sadness is what
he was feeling while looking at the house. Happiness because of the great
memories they got together and sadness because apparently , she had their dream
house , but not with him , with another person .
But there was one corner of the house that he has
totally forgotten about , he remembered
calling it the ' I Love You corner'. It
was a small corner where there were two flower vases , a pink one which was her
favorite color and a purple one which was his favorite . They agreed that
whenever they get married and for every day they love each other , they will put a flower in each other's vase ,
and that is how they will see how loves the other one more.
Looking at the corner , tears were about to fall
. The pink vase was empty , while the purple one was full of white tulips .
"Oh , white tulips , your favorite flowers " his wife told him "
I believe this is a sign for us to buy the house " she said, smiling. He
smiled back and asked her to get out of the house saying that they have seen
enough and they will study the price and
give a decision regarding to buying the house or not.
That night he called the agent who showed them
the house . He pretended that he was not convinced with the price the owners
are asking for . " It is a very expensive price , I agree that the house
is well decorated and beautiful , but I am sure that there are some problems
that we couldn't notice after one look only " . The agent told him "
Believe me , the price is less than what the house is worth , and there are no
problems with it at all , the only reason the owners are selling it is that
they are going to travel tomorrow night , and that is why they agreed to sell
for the price that you think is expensive. Besides , the owners are going to
visit the house tomorrow night for one final look before they sell it and that is it. " He asked
him " Can I have one last look at
the house to make up my mind ?" . The agent answered "Of course you
can ".
The next night , she and her husband came to
say goodbye to their house . She was very sad and tears were heavily falling , it was the house of her dreams , she
decorated every single corner , she chose every single color for each wall .
Her husband held her hand while walking around the house. It was killing her
knowing that her husband has signed the selling contract that morning , she did
not know who bought the house because it did not matter .
Suddenly , the tears and sadness turned into a
smile , her husband did not know the reason , but she did …… The pink vase was
filled with red orchids…………… her favorite flower.
Ziad Bakri
February 3rd, 2012
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