After we finished eating together, Dara seemed to invite Niko to leave together. However, before Niko left, he invited me to talk to him one-on-one in a corner of the cafeteria.
"Nad, thank you so much for understanding my current situation," he said, looking at my face intently.
"I understand, you don't want to disappoint Dara, right? After all, Dara is your first love. And, I can feel what you're feeling right now. You must also be in a difficult condition where you have to be able to maintain my feelings as well as Dara's.
"Since we fought last night, I've been thinking about a lot of things. If I were in your shoes right now, I would have done the same thing you did. I've decided Niko, we should keep our marriage a secret from Dara until things start to get better."
Niko looked at my face intently. He took both my hands in his and smiled gently at me.
"I know you can understand my situation. And, I'm sure you're the one who can understand me the most. Thank you so much, Nad."
I tried to smile and hide my sadness. You are strong Nadia, you can do it. Cheer up!
"Go, Dara is waiting for you."
Niko nodded as he let go of my hands and left. However, his steps immediately stopped. He turned his body around and looked at my face with a look in his eyes that was very difficult to interpret.
"You trust me, don't you, Nad?" he asked.
"I trust you, Niko," I replied shortly.
Niko walked away, and I watched his departure from a distance. Now, I was sure of one thing, that I actually felt that way again. I... . . I fell in love with him. I fell in love again with Niko who is now my husband.
As I sat pensively on the bench in the campus park, I thought about many things. When I fell in love with Niko for the first time, I had not been able to get this close to him.
The second time I fell in love with him, I felt that I was so far away from him. Even though we lived in the same place, my heart felt so far away from his. If we have to separate, but I'm happy to be able to enter her life. And, I never regretted ever loving him.
"Why did you let your husband leave with another woman?" asked someone who suddenly sat beside me.
I looked at him. Apparently, it was Maxime.
"Why did you marry Niko if he chose another woman in the end?" he asked sarcastically.
"You'll never understand what happened between me and Niko, Max."
"Do you love Niko?" Maxime asked, making me look at him.
"Whether you love him or not is none of your business, Max," I said and walked away.
"Are you willing to let the person you love go into someone else's arms? Are you willing to let go of the person you love just for someone else?" he exclaimed which made my steps stopped. "I know your love for Niko is sincere, right?"
"What do you know about Niko? Do you think you know Niko too?"
"Niko is your best friend since childhood, the girl who is now going out with Niko is also your best friend, right? Your houses were close to each other when you were young, and you used to play together. Niko is a smart boy, he can't bear to see a girl cry. Right?"
I leaned closer to Maxime and looked at his face intently. We were so close now, I could even feel his irregular breathing.
"Who are you really? Why do you know so much about me and Niko?"
"Who am I? I'm your guardian angel, Nad. I'll always be by your side when you need me."
"I don't need a guardian angel, I just need an answer as to why you know everything about me and Niko?"
Maxime came closer to me and held my shoulders while looking at me intently.
"One day you'll know who I am."
"Why don't you just say now who you really are? Why do you have to keep your identity a secret?"
"Forget about my identity. Now you must need some entertainment, right? Why don't we go for a walk? I'm ready to spend the day with you."
For the umpteenth time, Maxime hid his true identity from me. But, for some reason I felt comfortable when I was with him, I also didn't feel burdened by his presence beside me. Because Maxime offered to accompany me, I decided to take him to see a movie together.
While in the theater, I watched a horror movie with him. And, as long as we were in the theater, Maxime and I really enjoyed the movie we were watching. Maxime is a very friendly and kind person, he is very reliable and very protective of me.
When I was tired, he offered me a drink. When we were in an elevator full of people, he came to take care of me by standing in front of me while holding back the crowd of people from bumping into me. Maxime also held my hand when we were about to cross the street. I was really protected with him by my side.
"Want to play bicycle?" he asked me.
"Bicycle? That's fine, let's go!"
Maxime smiled and brought me a bicycle that he had rented. Maxime also invited me to sit behind him. We rode around the streets together.
"Why did you bring me here?" I asked when Maxime brought me to the playground, a place of my memories with Niko and Dara.
"This place is a place of memories for me, Nad," he replied softly.
"A place of memories?"
"Yes, this place reminds me of my mother. Before I moved to Germany, my mother and sister and I often went to play here. I still remember when my sister was crying because she fell off the swing, my mother came and hugged my sister and said 'your daughter should not cry, your daughter is a great child' those were the words of my mother who could always make her children calm and feel safe," she said with teary eyes.