NationStates Jolt Archive

The days grow long, and the nights seem even longer. How long
now has it been since last we looked on each other, Jaime?
Weeks, months? I remember there was a time when we'd count
the hours before our next rendezvous. Still, I don't blame you.
Not in the least.

Remember back, when first we met, and I told you how things were.
I tried to spare you the pain even then, but dear, you always did
think better of me than you should. Always, you gave me more credit
than I deserved. How far it seems I've fallen from that pedestal
you tried so hard to keep me on.

We never did do things the easy way, boy. I'm not sure it's in our
natures to do so. What I do know, is that I can't go on like this.
The waiting, the worrying, the distance ... it's been tearing up the
both of us. It's time, mi amore. Past time to move on, and salvage
what we can of things. It was a beautiful dream, while it lasted,
and I'll cherish those moments we've had for as long as I draw breath.

It's better this way, in the long run. You and I both know it,
however things feel right now. You have Laura, whether you'll admit
it or not. For all I know, you've already resolved those issues. I
can only hope so. Whichever course you chose, I wish you well in it.
I know it hasn't been easy.

I don't know the best way to go about this, Jaime. And I'm certain I'm
doing it all wrong, and I'm sorry. Please pardon if I sound cold here.
It's te only way I'm going to get through this. All the same, the
necessary papers are in the enclosed envelope. We never combined assets
to begin with, so that makes things rater cut and dried from a strictly
legal standpoint. You need only sign, and send them back. There's no
need to draw this out and make it more painful than need be, however,
I'm willing to meet if you insist, to finalize it.

I wish you well, mi amore. No matter what, I said long ago. It holds
true even now, regardless. Il tempo guarisce tutti i mali.

--Nathi



Nathicana laid her pen aside, blowing softly over the page she'd just written, not focusing on the words, rather, looking through them. When satisfied, she folded the stationary methodicaly into thirds, careful to keep all the edges even and neat. She took the letter, and slipped it into the waiting envelope already bearing his name in a somewhat shaky script, unlike her usual bold hand.

She laid it down, pausing to drink deeply from the bottle at hand, draining the last of it, then letting it slip from her fingers to thump and roll along the rug, clinking against the others already laying there. Blinking slowly, she tried to focus, her vision beginning to blur. Muttering, she managed to slide the small envelope into the larger overnight one already filled with legal documents, little tape flags bristling from one side, denoting areas requiring signatures.

Feeling a hot wetness on her face, she laid the package aside, fingertips brusing across her cheeks awkwardly, wiping at the tears that were now flowing freely. Nathicana shook her head, wringing her hands together, tugging and pulling. Rising to her feet, one hand thumping down atop the mail package, the other grabbing at the back of her chair for support, she called out in a slurred voice.

"Gianni, package. Needsta go out now. On th'desk. See to't."

Not bothering to wait for confirmation, she staggered towards the bed, her head swimming, limbs feeling heavy and disassociated from the rest of her. Somehow, she managed to throw herself down on it, pulling herself across til she was stretched out at an awkward angle across it. Her pulse sounded loud in her ears, and the tears continued to flow, regardless of the implicit instructions she was giving herself to stop.

When Gianni walked down the all but a short time later, he found her passed out, her face still wet with tears. Sighing, he shook his head, making his way to the desk in the corner of the room near one of the windows. Seeing the package, he paused, arching a brow. Atop it, was the ring he'd never seen her without since she'd recieved it, what seemed ages ago.

Well, it isn't in the package ...

He sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose for a moment as he thinks. Coming to a decision, he carefully sets the ring aside, leaving it to glitter on the desktop as he gathers up the package, seals it, and takes it downstairs to go drop it off.

She woke up with a splitting headache and feeling like something had died in her mouth.

"Porca miseria, che cosa è questo stronzata?" she mutters, then continues to curse fluently under her breath. She squints at the grey light of morning shining in on the room in soft glittering shafts. Someone had removed her boots and tucked her into bed at some point, her mind registered. Gianni, no doubt ... argh, why couldn't he have closed the blinds more?

It hurt to move. Hell, it hurt to think. She stumbled out of bed to her desk, fumbling in the drawers, finding nothing. Swearing softly, she continues to rummage. Even the empty bottles from the previous afternoon have been taken away. There is, however, a pitcher of ice water sitting on a tray in a pool of condensation, its sides glittering with crystaline drops.

Nathi scowls. Deeply. Also on the tray, a bottle of extra strength pain relief pills, and a glass sit waiting. Muttering to herself about 'damned busybody' and 'minding his own damned business' and other like things, she pops the cap with a wince, pours herself a glass with shaking hands, and gulps down four of the gelcaps, slowly savoring the cool water as it flowed down her parched throat.

And then she spots the ring, sitting there, the diamonds all a-glitter, the fire in them a mix of brilliant colors as always in the light spilling in from the window.

Sitting down slowly, she sets her water aside, and for a while, does nothing else but sit and stare at the desk.

The package arrived days later, without fanfare, via certified mail. All the papers were in order, every neccessary line signed.

With shaking hands, she reviewed each page, forcing herself to read, and accept. Nothing was challenged. Nothing was changed. There was no request for a meeting.

"Devon will be pleased," she murmured past numb lips that quivered with emotion. Noting a small, folded note still in the envelope, she took it out out, and read.

As the tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks, she nodded quietly to herself, reading the words again, each one seeming to hurn into her memory as her fingers tightened around the paper.

She directed all calls to be transferred, all appointments and meetings are shuffled to later in the week. The rest of the day, she spent at home in her room, curled up in bed, between bouts with the bottle, trying to sleep it off.

Farewell, mi amore. Of all the many things I regret in this life, losing you will always be the one that hurts the most.

<-= End =->

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