A Right to Remain

He had a right to remain suffocated by his pain. She had a right to remain silent about hers. For better or for worse. Those were the vows that I had taken with my wife six years ago. We had lived through the better and were barely getting through the worse. I tried to face our loss together, while she chose to have an affair instead. Time apart was what we both needed. What I didn�t expect in that time was her. The beauty she possessed on the outside was a far cry from the scars she was harboring on the inside. She wasn�t looking for love and neither was I. She just needed someone to help her deal with the pain she had been carrying around for the past two years, and I was happy to oblige. I wasn�t supposed to fall in love with her, but suddenly I was seeing a future that I never dreamed of right in front of my eyes�.only to find that the past had other things in mind for us. I always believed that we only got one true love in life, and mine was gone and never coming back. Through the tear-filled nights and never ending days, I was slowly and tortuously coming to terms with the pain that was my reality. And then he entered my life. Tall, handsome, genuine and caring, he was a friend when I needed one most. Together, we were a temporary fix to our own permanent pain. Just two people helping each other to get through a very dark period in life. But when the light begins to shine ever so slightly with each passing day, and his face is all I can see at the end of that tunnel�..do I run back into the darkness or move into the light with him? **