The warm spring evening was nearly perfect.

After dinner, he and Marla, as they always did, took a circuitous route to their destination. The warm spring evening was nearly perfect. A slight breeze blew in from the east on a night when the sky was clear and full of stars. There wasn't any reason to rush; there were more than three hours before Marla's train departed. They meandered through familiar streets, at times, seemingly without direction. At times they walked hand in hand, raising their voices in laughter as they engaged in their usual rapid-fire exchanges. As they walked the familiar streets, which were once part of both of their lives, Marla came to realize as he had never left her, he would never leave Brielle. He never left anybody. It was in those moments that Marla finally came to realize the unconditional love for which she had always yearned had always been in reach, all she had to do for so many years was reach out and take it. She came to realize nobody would ever love her as he did. A feeling of loss to which she would never admit, came over her as they walked. Marla looked at his face; that face that was ever-present in her life, that face that was once young and wrinkle-free now showed the wear of life, yet the love that flowed from him and the commitment he gave to that love was as strong and it had always been, only now it belonged to somebody else.

When they arrived at the train station, they were both emotionally drained. Marla struggled to hold back tears. He looked at her, asking himself if she was waiting for him to tell her all he had said earlier was meaningless and that yes, he wanted her more than he wanted life itself. Marla had offered him everything he had ever wanted. Finally, Marla was offering herself to him, telling him she would spend her life with him. All he had to do to realize his nearly lifelong dream was to tell Marla what she wanted to hear. Tommaso found himself in the same position Marla was the last time he saw her; only this time, Marla wanted to hear the answers she wanted to hear. At that moment, he could have reached out to her and kissed her as he had always longed to kiss her. That kiss, the one he had imagined for decades, that magical moment about which he had always dreamed would be the beginning of the life with Marla he had always wanted. He could be selfish and tell Marla what she wanted to hear and finally live his dream.

However, he knew Marla was not thinking rationally. She had panicked and reached out to him for the comfort he had always given her. It was at that moment he realized how much he truly loved her. He loved her so intensely; he would not let Marla make the wrong decision for all the wrong reasons.

The two of them stood facing each other in a silence they had never experienced together. Marla lost the battle to hold back tears. She stood in silence as tears streamed down both of her cheeks. He knew though she loved him, it was not the love he had always wanted from her. Her tears were not the result of a deep romantic love for him, they were due to her coming to the realization he was not going to catch her this time, and she had to stand on her own.

It was almost 11:45 PM; Marla needed to get on the train. She locked her left arm in his right arm and snuggled up to him as she took her phone out from her purse to call Babette to tell her she would be home for breakfast. Each pulse of the dial pad rang deafeningly in his ears. He knew once that she made the call, he would lose the chance to have Marla. With one digit remaining, all he had to do was speak up, and he would have Marla as a lover and partner. One remaining number to be dialed was the difference between her leaving and him waking up next to Marla in the morning.

After a brief conversation with Babette, Marla gently put her right hand on his left cheek. She gave him a soft but extended kiss on his right cheek, then stared into his eyes as she had never done before. His heart raced as a cyclone of emotions whipped through his mind. Marla again locked eyes with him, then turned away to walk to the station. Standing on the curb across the street from the rail station, he stood in the warm spring evening breeze as he watched Marla walk away from him. With every step Marla took as she walked away, a lifetime of thoughts and memories of her raced through his mind. Before disappearing into the station, Marla turned around and waved. As she waved goodbye to him a second time, she called out from across the street,

"Tommaso, do you know what today is?"

"Yes, Marla, it is the first night of spring."