Unspoken whisper of hidden love

Lila had always been mature for her age, or at least that's what her friends said. At nineteen, she had the world at her feet, graduating high school with honors and a bright future ahead in medical school. But despite her achievements, her heart was anchored to a man eighteen years her senior.

Tom was the epitome of kindness and patience. At thirty-seven, he had lived a life full of experiences that fascinated Lila. He had moved into the house next door when she was sixteen, and they quickly bonded over gardening. Tom had a way with plants, his green thumb transforming his backyard into a lush oasis. He taught Lila the intricacies of planting, pruning, and nurturing flowers, their hands often brushing against each other in the soil. They also shared a love for basketball, spending countless evenings shooting hoops and laughing under the setting sun.

Despite their deepening connection, Lila never voiced her feelings. She couldn't bring herself to cross the chasm of their age difference, fearing his reaction and the potential scandal it might cause. So, she cherished their moments in silence, her love growing in the shadows of their friendship.

When the time came for her to leave for medical school, Lila made the difficult decision to cut ties with Tom. She thought it was the best way to move on, to let both of them live their lives without the complications of her unspoken love. It was a painful goodbye, but she believed it was the right thing to do.

A year passed in a whirlwind of lectures, exams, and clinical rotations. Lila threw herself into her studies, trying to bury her longing for Tom under piles of textbooks. But the news of his death shattered the fragile balance she had created.

Returning home for the summer, she learned from a neighbor that Tom had died from a drug overdose. The shock left her reeling, and the details of his struggles with depression tore at her heart. His fiancée had died in a tragic accident on her way to pick up her wedding dress, a blow from which Tom never fully recovered. The weight of his grief had driven him to seek solace in substances, and ultimately, it had claimed his life.

Lila stood in his now overgrown garden, tears streaming down her face. She mourned not only the man she loved but also the life he might have had if fate had been kinder. She knelt in the soil where they had spent so many happy hours, planting a single rose bush in his memory.

As the petals unfurled in the summer sun, Lila whispered the words she had never dared to say. "I love you, Tom. I always will." The wind carried her confession away, a fragile echo of a love that was never meant to be.

In the silence of the garden, a new thought took root in her mind, one that twisted the knife of her grief even deeper. What if she had professed her love to him? What if she had given him the companionship he so desperately needed? The realization hit her with a devastating clarity: he could have been alive if she hadn't been so afraid of people's opinions. She could have saved him from his solitude, from the dark spiral that claimed his life. Instead, she had let her fear of judgment overshadow her love, and now it was too late.

Lila’s heart ached with the weight of regret. She cradled the budding rose in her hands, her tears watering the soil. "I’m so sorry, Tom," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I’m so sorry." Lila remained there, lost in her sorrow. The world around her seemed indifferent to her pain, the garden a silent witness to her unspoken love and the unbearable burden of what might have been.
Now she carries the guilt of letting the opinion of the society Keep such beautiful soul away from her.