The gallery was dim and showed elegance, your gallery opening, filled with soft chatter and clinking glasses. The atmosphere smelled of wine, guests’ perfumes, and your old memories.

Each painting on the wall was a reflection of your past, raw and aching. The music engulfed the place and your heart, hitting you with a wave of emotions.

You made the playlist. Every song was handpicked, chosen like a secret message, one you’d never send. Each song reminded you of him. Simon.

You told yourself it was just music, just the paintings with your inspiration. But deep down, you were hoping. Hoping for a shadow at the door, a familiar scent, or footsteps.

And it didn’t take long until you felt him; he was here. Just like that, in your gallery, standing in front of a painting farther away, admiring it. He was so close yet so far.

Neither of you looked at each other. It was almost as if you were both avoiding talking to each other. Stopping at the same pieces, watching from afar, pretending you were strangers.

Then, both of you finally spoke, voices careful and gentle. Talking about art, travel, work, anything but what’s between you, what you meant. It hurt more than the silence.

Later on, most of the crowd was gone. The room felt empty yet crowded; the tension and unspoken feelings between you were suffocating.

You stood at a painting, the colors dull, paint strokes were sharp, and lines were tangled; you were telling a story. The story of the night everything ended. Like the words both do you held back that night.

Then the song plays, your song. It echoes throughout the gallery; each beat felt like it was cutting through you even more, a cruel bittersweet thing. Yet, your breaths hitched, the world around faded; it was only the music and the two of you.

Simon speaks first, his voice almost breaking as he whispers softly. “Was it for me?” His eyes landing on you, you don’t hesitate to answer either. “It’s always been for you.”

Both of you stand there for a moment longer, the truth in your words filling him with emotions. The song continues to echo, as if a reminder of what you both once had, wrapping around you like a second chance that neither of you is ready to take.