The Rhythm of Us

The first time I saw him, I was eleven years old, and he was fifteen. It was one of those moments that felt like the universe had paused just for me. He was standing in the schoolyard, laughing with his friends, his dark hair catching the sunlight like a halo. I was in the fifth grade, and he was in the ninth, but even then, I knew—this was love. Real, earth-shattering, all-consuming love.

You might laugh, thinking, What does an eleven-year-old know about love?  But I swear, in that moment, I felt it in my bones. I wanted to have his babies. Yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds now, but back then, it felt as natural as breathing. His name was Edward Carter, but everyone called him Ed. He was good friends with my cousin, Sarah, who stayed with us during the school year while her parents worked out of town. Sarah was like the big sister I never had, but this story isn’t about her. It’s about Ed.

For weeks, I watched him from afar, my heart skipping a beat every time he glanced in my direction. But of course, he didn’t notice me. How could he? I was just a kid to him. When he left for high school, I thought I’d never see him again. But life, as it turns out, has a funny way of bringing people back together.

The second time I saw him, I was eighteen, graduating from high school, and he was twenty-two, already a college graduate working as an ethical hacker. It was at a party, one of those chaotic, music-thumping, neon-lit gatherings that felt like the universe’s way of testing my resolve. I was standing by the snack table, trying to look cool while secretly debating whether to eat the questionable-looking guacamole, when I saw him.

Ed.

He was even more handsome than I remembered, his jawline sharper, his shoulders broader. My heart did that familiar little flip, and I felt like I was eleven all over again. I tried to flirt, tossing my hair and laughing a little too loudly at his jokes, but he barely noticed me. He was polite, sure, but distant. It was like I was still that little girl in the schoolyard, invisible to him.

I left the party that night with my pride bruised but my heart still stubbornly hopeful. Little did I know, fate wasn’t done with us yet.

The third time, as they say, was the charm. I was setting up a Facebook account, scrolling through the suggested friends list, when his name popped up. Edward Carter. My heart leapt into my throat. Before I could overthink it, I sent him a friend request. To my shock, he accepted within minutes, and soon after, he was in my inbox.

“Hey, Rosalie,” he wrote. “Long time no see.”

Those five words were the beginning of everything. We started talking—first casually, then constantly. We exchanged numbers, and within weeks, we went from strangers to best friends. It was like we had known each other forever. He was funny, kind, and ridiculously smart, and I fell for him all over again.

Our first date was magical. He took me to a little Italian restaurant, and we talked for hours, laughing over shared stories and childhood memories. I remember thinking, This is it. This is the man I’m going to marry.

For four years, we were inseparable. He introduced me to his family, and I became a part of their world. His sister, Emily, and I got along famously, and his parents treated me like a daughter. I could picture it all—our future, our wedding, our life together. I even practiced signing my name as Mrs. Rosalie Carter, giggling like a schoolgirl every time I did.

But life, as it often does, had other plans.

It started with a medical emergency. I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition that made it nearly impossible for me to conceive. The news shattered me. All I could think about was how I’d never be able to give Ed the family he deserved. But Ed, being Ed, was nothing but supportive.

“I don’t love you because you can have my babies,” he said, holding my hand tightly. “I love you because you’re you. And I want to spend my life with you, no matter what.”

His words were a balm to my soul, but deep down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was letting him down. Then, to make matters worse, I had to move across the country for a new job as a Crisis Manager—or, as I liked to call it, a Master of Disaster. The distance put a strain on our relationship. We tried to make it work, but between the time difference and our hectic schedules, we started drifting apart.

The breaking point came when we stopped talking altogether. It wasn’t a dramatic breakup or a heated argument—just silence. One day, we were planning our future, and the next, we were strangers. I blamed myself, convinced that Ed didn’t want to be with someone who couldn’t give him a family. He, on the other hand, thought I had moved on. It was a tragic misunderstanding, one that left us both heartbroken.

Years passed, and we reconnected by chance. It was bittersweet, seeing him again. He was still the same Ed—kind, funny, and impossibly handsome—but there was a distance between us that neither of us knew how to bridge. We tried to rebuild our friendship, but it was clear that the love we once shared had changed.

I never stopped loving him, though. Ed was, and always will be, the love of my life. But sometimes, love isn’t enough. Sometimes, timing and circumstances get in the way, and no matter how much you want to, you can’t find your way back to each other.

An Epilogue

The years rolled on, and life carried them in different directions. Rosalie and Ed never married, not to each other, nor to anyone else. They lived separate lives, each carrying the weight of what could have been, like a quiet shadow that followed them through the years.

Rosalie threw herself into her work, becoming a renowned Crisis Manager, admired for her resilience and sharp mind. She traveled the world, solving problems and putting out fires, but no matter where she went, a part of her always lingered in the past. She dated occasionally, but no one ever measured up to Ed. How could they? He was her first love, her greatest love, and though she tried to move on, her heart remained stubbornly tethered to him.

Ed, too, built a successful life. He continued his work as an ethical hacker, earning accolades for his brilliance and integrity. He dated, too, but something always felt missing. He often found himself comparing every woman to Rosalie, to the way she laughed, the way she made him feel seen and understood in a way no one else ever had. He told himself it was foolish to hold onto the past, but deep down, he knew he’d never stop loving her.

They stayed in touch, sporadically at first, then more regularly as the years softened the edges of their pain. They exchanged messages on birthdays and holidays, sharing updates about their lives, but never delving too deeply into the emotions that still simmered beneath the surface. They met for coffee once, a few years after their breakup, and it was both wonderful and heartbreaking. The connection was still there, electric and undeniable, but so was the unspoken acknowledgment that their time had passed.

Rosalie often wondered if Ed still thought about her the way she thought about him. She hoped he did, though she never asked. She didn’t need to. The way he looked at her during that coffee date, with a mixture of love and regret, told her everything she needed to know.

As the years turned into decades, Rosalie found solace in the memories. She would sit by her window on quiet evenings, a cup of tea in hand, and let her mind wander back to the schoolyard, the party, the Italian restaurant. She smiled at the thought of her younger self, so full of hope and certainty. She didn’t regret loving Ed, not for a moment. He had given her something precious, something that would stay with her forever.

And so, they lived their separate lives, two souls forever intertwined by a love that never quite faded. They never married, never stayed together, but they never stopped loving each other, either. For Rosalie, at least, that love remained a constant, a quiet, steady beat in the rhythm of her life.

And maybe, just maybe, it was enough.

Abena