💔💔 “Do another… last photo together” – after these words of my best friend, I didn’t know that the next day I would learn the terrible truth.
Sometimes the secret that a person keeps for years is able to turn everything upside down at one point. You begin to re-remember the past, doubt the closest people and even wonder: was it really the way you always thought? After all, as long as you sincerely love a person and unconditionally trust him, he can smile at you for years, hiding the truth that can change your whole life.
Susan and I met when we were only seven years old.
We grew up in one small town, went to school together on one bus, sat behind one guy and almost never parted. When I first fell in love, it was Susan who became the first person I told about my feelings. And when her parents decided to divorce, she spent almost all the time at home and even spent weeks staying.
Our mothers constantly joked that we are more like sisters than ordinary friends.
Years went by, we grew up, but our friendship remained as strong.
I married Michael. A few years later, Susan also started a family, but her marriage was short-lived and eventually ended in divorce.
When her family life collapsed, I didn’t leave her alone. However, in our friendship there has never been a concept of “leaving in trouble” – we are used to supporting each other in everything.
Michael also long ago perceived Susan as a native man.
She could come to us suddenly without a call, knew perfectly well where the glasses were, what coffee Michael preferred, and also kept the spare key to our house.
And I was not worried at all.
Why should it have?
It was Susan.
My closest friend, whom I’ve trusted for almost a lifetime.
So when one summer she offered to spend a week together by the ocean, I didn’t even think and immediately agreed.
Michael died almost a year ago. After his death, I was closed in myself and almost stopped leaving the house.
Susan saw how hard I had to, and once said,
– Linda, you need to leave for at least a few days. You need to learn to breathe again.
I listened to her.
On the last day of our vacation, we sat in the warm sun enjoying the last hours by the ocean. At one point, Susan looked at me and asked me to get the phone.
– Let’s take another picture. The last one.
I laughed, deciding that she just failed to pick up the words.
“Last one?” I asked. “The last thing?”
