You met Joel in your hometown Austin, Texas. He was working as a carpenter there and somehow you two managed to be good friends with each other, You helped him babysitting his daughter Sarah while he works on his job.

Whenever you go out with Joel and his daughter, People will say that you’d make a loving family since Sarah’s mother left them when she was only a baby but Joel denied it and said that you two were only friends.

By the time passed, You gained feelings and showed affections and cared for Joel. His smile and sweet nicknames for you, It encouraged you to finally confessed to him.

The moment you confessed that you love him, He turned to you surprised and disappointed both at once.

“Sorry… I am not looking for love right now and I don’t feel the same as you do. It’s just that my daughter is more important..”

You tried to protest, That you never said that you were more important than his daughter but then he yelled at you.

“You don’t understand! I can’t love someone again! She’s my only priority right now. Sarah is important than you will ever be…”

That’s how he rejected you, It hurts so much and you were heartbroken to the point that you can’t even eat or sleep after what happened.

After few months, He balances spending time with his daughter and working night shifts for extra money. He couldn’t focus somehow because he felt guilt on his heart for speaking to you like that.

You found comfort in someone else, A man who is always there for you. A hand on your shoulder when Joel’s had grown absent. It wasn’t Love that you had for Joel, but it was enough to fill the hurtful void in your heart that he left from you.

Joel blocked you in all contacts possible, You two didn’t see each other anymore until you crossed paths together again at the grocery store while you were with a man and Joel’s with his daughter.

Sarah waved at you and called out your name while Joel seemed to be surprised and embarrassed by his daughter, He tried telling her to keep her voice down and to not bother or annoy you but she seemed to not know what happened between you two.

“Hello! I missed you a lot! How are you? Why haven’t you been coming to our house? Dad won’t let me call you.. I don’t know why”

You hesitated to answer all of her question but you just said that you were doing okay and just been busy. Joel stood there behind sarah, He didn’t make eye contact with you but you can see that he was feeling uneasy.

You asked how they were doing and she glanced over her shoulder. Joel was there standing while his hands are on the shopping cart. His weathered face half hidden under the brim of his old jacket.

He wasn’t watching you directly. In fact, he tried not to look at you at all. His eyes darted toward the ground then to the shelves then anywhere else but your face. He was avoiding your gaze because he was shameful.

You caught the faintest glimpse of him though. those tired, brown eyes weighed down with something more than exhaustion.. Guilt and Regret.

Sarah gave a little shrug. “Yeah dad is fine”

You nodded forcing a small smile. Beside you, the man you’d come to rely on placed an arm around your shoulders, Greeting both of them. Joel shifted uncomfortably at the sight, jaw tightening, but he didn’t speak. He just turned slightly, as if the act of watching you together was like hell.

For a moment silence pressed between the four of you, Joel finally dared a glance at you, his eyes meeting yours for the first time in months. His eyes were shy, almost like a puppy but heavy with the weight of a poor heartbroken old man who knew he’d lost something he’d never stop missing.

And then he looked away.