Beats of Life

I watched him leave, he walked down the stairs dejectedly like something knocked the wind out of him. I watched him from my window upstairs while he trudged to his car.

I guess one has to be careful with getting entangled with people. I realize that even when they treat you badly and your head refuses the form of love they give, your heart will still find a way to beat for them even if faintly. Even when it is clear as the sky that it is not meant to be, the fact of being entangled at all weakens the common sense and prevents it from taking steps.

What did he who I once regarded as the love of my life do that turned my common sense against him.

First, he did not want me to visit a museum located outside my state of residence.

"Art occupies a tender spot in my heart"

I tried to explain. The stillness of the museum, the coming together of different works of art from different culture and civilization makes my heart melt. It is a feeling I cannot explain. Listening to the curator give a brief lecture on each item of treasure makes my eyes glitter and my head bubble with knowledge and comparisons.

Well, all of the joy I tried to describe was stamped away when he asked me with wide eyes and wrinkled face " what are you going to do in a museum?"

I admit that was not the only thing that happened. He proceeded to scream profanities at me while I looked on in shock at the man who "loves" me.

It is unbelievable but that is what happened. It was the first thing that made me rethink this love.

No, scratch that. This was not the first thing that made my nose wrinkle at this love.

It was the day he walked in on me conversing animatedly over the phone with a male friend. This friendship is just as old as me. When i dropped the call, he asked with a growl "who were you on the phone with ?". I tried to explain the friendship but in the end, he reduced it to sex.

No, no, strike that. That was not the first. The first was the day I went to the stadium to engage in my fitness routine. On most days, when I come into the stadium, I do my laps with my headphones blasting music into my head and then I leave as soon as I am done without as much as a hello to regular faces.

He frequents this stadium too. And so, on a fateful day, an elderly man joins me in my lap and decides to engage me in a friendly conversation. I oblige him for a while and then postpone the discussion.
" The love of my life" observed this short exchange. The next day, I returned to the stadium for my routine. Unfortunately, "the love of my life" was out of town for business and so, he was not there. As soon I began my laps, my phone rang and it turned out to be "my love". He called to find out if the elderly man from the previous day approached me again.

Then I told him off. I refused to answer the question and then, he flew into a rage and threatened to confront an innocent man who only sought an introduction and a friendly conversation.

This left me aghast. I tried to justify his anger in my head, I tried to justify the need to confront an innocent man but my common sense did not offer any justification.

So, I pleaded with him to calm down and he hid, eventually.

To be continued.