Gone with the wind

The following story was requested:

Maybe the Scarlet O’Hara in her didn’t let her see what was always there. And just like Scarlet she realized the truth when the end was inevitable.
She knew of him for oh so long. He’d always been there for her through the good, the bad, the ugly. His loyalty to her was unconditional. He waited for the moment when she might look his way. But that moment seemed to take too long.

"There’s something I have to tell you. Something I’ve been wanting to say for so long. "
"Well wait. I have to tell you something too."
"What" – he said excited
"I think Im in love. Okay maybe not in love. But I realized I really like this guy."
"Oh really? What’s his name?"
"Christian "
"Oh" - he said defeated

That night she went on to tell him all about her new found interest. One she even recognized was impossible but that no matter what, she longed for. And he, he never told her what he had planned to say. That he loved her, that he always had.

Time progressed and she became even more aware of the “impossible” situation she was in. He, as her friend, would comfort her with kind words, and a helping hand.

On one occasion, as they danced the night away, she looked at him and said. “I’m done waiting for something to happen with Mr. impossible. Now you darling on the other hand are amazing! Why have I never thought of this before!?!” she joked.
He smirked. “I had. Long ago actually. I really cared about you for a long time. When I planned to tell you, your heart was all ready caught up.”
She looked at him surprised. Could it be? That what she had always searched for, yearned for, had been there all along? Was life that ironic?

It took her time to let it all sink in. Hoping that the lost time could be regained, she asked him to meet up. So they sat outside her house, on the porch, under the moonlight night. They talked about everything and anything. But what she really wanted to say was that she was sorry she hadn’t seen it before. That she longed for someone to care for her, someone to be there, someone to tell her troubles to. That all along she thought she knew who that person could be, not realizing that there was a person who’d always been.

“Isn’t life ironic…” she started to say
“I met someone”
“What?
“I met someone”
“Who?”
“A girl. And she’s really great. We’ve hit it off really great. I’ve been meaning to tell you. It just hasn’t come up”
“Oh”. That’s all she could say as her heart sank.

Maybe it’s true, what they say, that the things you want will make you cry. While the things you need will pass you by. What you’ve always searched for, longed for, could be written in BIG BLOCK letter’s in front of us but we choose to disregard it still thinking things should be more clearer. She’d always known what kind of guy he was. The kind you fall in love with and live happily ever after but that wasn’t enough for her heart at the time. At least not till it was too late. Yes. Life is that ironic.
She sat there long after he was gone. She realized she had wasted so much time loving something that never really existed that she let slip away what could have been. She sighed as the wind blew by, taking with it the handkerchief she let slip from her hand. She sat there looking at it as the wind blew it farther and farther away… And like it too she wished, and prayed that all of her regret would disappear and would be gone with the wind…