7th February

It is the date I will not forget, unless I lost my memory. The date is the date that I had remembered since 1995.

I started to get to know him in 1994. I had the chance to know him earlier (1989 or 1990) but something had happened and only in 1994 I got the chance to know him.

When I first met him, I knew he was the one. It was a bad time though. He was dating my classmate at the time. I was dating someone else. I was only 18 years old at that time. Very young and very naive. I broke up with my boyfriend and few months later he broke up with his girlfriend. I tried my best to save the relationship but failed. I did it even though I started to realise I had fell for him. I grew closer to him especially when he realised that he could easily talk to me. I am a good listener and I think it is a gift from Allah which I treasure.

He had few relationship since then but I stayed single. One day, I saw him smoking and it broke my heart because he had promise to me that he won't smoke. I confronted him and I could feel that I started to fell for him even deeper. Our friendship grew stronger and I tried my best to hide my feelings towards him.

When I could not hide it anymore, I started to lie to my friends, telling them I admire someone else. It works until he came to me and 'proposed' me to be his girlfriend. My heart said yes, but my mouth said no. I could not betray my friend (his ex-girlfriend). I was crying inside but still smiling outside.

He 'proposed' to me for the second time but again I say no. After that he got closer to another girl. A girl we disapproved but we said nothing about it. As for me, I was still a good friend to him even though his new girlfriend did not like me. Whenever he was with her, he treated me as if he did not know me. Whenever he was alone or with others, he will treat me good which a lot of my good friends disapproved. For me, I did not mind at all, having the chance to talk to him was like the best thing in my life. We remained good friends behind his girlfriend.

I love him and I believe that if he is the one, he will come back to me. I continued my life studying and bumped into few relationships. I face the ups and downs in a normal life. I graduated in 1999, the same year he married the girl. The news broke my heart but at the same time I prayed for his happiness. I tried to be a good friend by hoping the best for my friend.

I started working, hopping on jobs till I became a teacher in 2002. Now and then I receive phone calls from him but I knew his wife still hates me. I started hearing bad stories about them but I kept on saving the best prayers for them. I broke off from two serious relationships in that period of time which had built a wall around me just to protect myself not to get hurt again.

He came back to me on the 7th February 2004. The day I wish I could talk to him, to wish him Happy Birthday. I wish him Happy Birthday and he was surprised that I still remembered. I never forgot and never will forget. He was still married to the girl but the marriage is on the rock. I was still in love to him but I don't want to take the chance to ruin their marriage. I thought I was given the second chance, the second chance to be with him. For me it's a sign from Allah, the sign showing he had came back to me.

I started seeing him, until his wife knew about it and started the chaos. I knew I should not be the third party on a marriage that is already in the danger zone. They filed their divorce on the 10th October 2004. I was not the reason for the divorce but I was the factor who quickens the process. He was devastated on the divorce, I tried my best to help him, as always, I want the best for him. I could just do anything for him.

The relationship went well. I was on cloud nine. I was with the one I love for 10 years. I could not ask better than all this. I started to get to know his family, in love to the whole family where they accepted me very well. Everything turns out good until we started to have our small fights. I thought it was normal till our telephone conversation on the 19 August 2005. After that, he never called, only text messages going back and forth.

I started missing him, missing him so much until I started buying a set of cross stitch for his birthday on the 7th February 2006. I failed to finish it on time so I bought something else for his birthday. I noticed that I started doing the cross stitch whenever I miss him and I had stopped doing it in mid 2006. I don't miss him anymore?

I tried to reflect back on what had happened to me. I was sad for sure but I tried to look it from another angle. When he first came back to me, I thought he was for me but now I think Allah had given me the chance to get to know him better from a different perspective. Which is an eye opening to me. I am glad that I had that chance. If not, I will still spare a part of my heart to him, which no one could ever replace it. Now, the space is vacant.

This year, I did not even wish him happy birthday. The 7th February is just another day in my life. I had enough from all this and surely I don't want to go through it again. He is not the one for me, I might have to go out to find the 'one' but I am taking a break. Mending a broken heart is not an easy task.

I had loved him for 12 years, I had shared the best moments with him. I had gone through the worst of it. I am glad I could have a taste of it. No regrets at all. I hope he will find his true love and be happy again.