Always and Forever Amanda Steinman Dear Collin, I am sorry it has taken me so long to write. I have been busy, touring around the city, studying, and working; but, me being busy is no excuse to not write or return your messages. It is time for me to be honest with you and myself. I did not know exactly how to say the things I am about to say. Before I begin, I want you to know how much I truly love you and have loved our time together. I had so much fun visiting you before I left for Italy, getting to see where you work, your office, and your apartment. That was a weekend I will never forget. I have decided to stay in Italy. I have been offered a full-time position as a teacher. I will be teaching young children how to speak English. With that being said, I think it is best that we go our separate ways. I am in Italy and you are in Chicago. If I knew when I would be returning home, or if I was returning home at all, things would be different. I truly am sorry. I love you and I hope, someday, we will see each other again. I wish you the best and send my love. I love you, Collin, always and forever. Love, Caroline It is a late Wednesday afternoon in the dead of winter. The snow is falling quickly from the sky, covering the footprints that the previous bypassers had just recently left behind. Collin stares blankly out the window of his office on East Madison Street in Chicago, two blocks from Millennium Park. He has everything he always dreamed of having: his dream job, car, and home. He is a successful CEO of Centro, a company that provides software solutions for companies in the advertising industry. But there is one thing that Collin does not have—Caroline, the girl he has been longing for. Fifteen years have passed, but it feels like just yesterday. After a few minutes, Collin begins to realize that one of the bypassers below had stopped and is staring back at him. A few moments later, the face becomes a familiar one and the memories of Collin’s college days quickly return. … “Caroline, we have spent countless nights in here studying together, but yet we never speak more than a few words or spend time together outside of the library. Why don’t we stop studying and you let me buy you a drink? Just this once.” said Collin. Collin had been waiting for the right time to ask Caroline for a drink, but he had been nervous of the results, and what they would do to their friendship. If you could even call their relationship a friendship. They spent every night in the library
74
Inscape 2020
