One-Sided Love: A Wound That Won’t Heal

We stayed at my father’s friend’s house, and that’s where I met him — my father’s friend’s son. He was a smart, charming guy, and we were the same age, 21 at the time.

It wasn’t his looks that drew me in; it was his nature.

The way he treated everyone around him, especially my parents and siblings, was so endearing. I couldn’t help but be attracted to him. I started to develop feelings, and I wondered if this was what people called love.

Funny enough, we didn’t speak much during the trip.

We mostly just exchanged glances and watched each other from a distance. There was one moment I’ll never forget, while I was getting ready one morning, I noticed him watching me quietly from his room. It was strange and kind of exciting, but neither of us made a move.

The entire trip was like that, a lot of unspoken words and emotions. As the vacation came to an end, and I prepared to leave Dubai, he looked at me in a way that seemed to say he didn’t want me to go. I convinced myself that he had feelings for me too, that maybe he wanted something more — maybe.

But we never talked about it, and I left with nothing but that ongoing hope.
Years passed, and I often thought about him. I wondered if maybe things could have been different if we’d had a chance to talk, to really connect. I kept that hope alive, dreaming of what could have been.

Then, just recently, my father told me that his friend’s son is getting married. Hearing that news hit me like a ton of bricks. I found myself crying alone, my heart aching in a way I hadn’t expected.

It was a painful realization that all this time, I had been holding onto a one-sided love.

It’s strange how we can convince ourselves of something that was never there. We build up these stories in our heads, hoping for a happy ending that might never come. And when reality finally catches up, it can be devastating.

But you know what? That’s life.

Sometimes, we fall for people who don’t feel the same way, and it’s a hard pill to swallow. I’ve learned that holding onto unspoken feelings can hurt more than letting them go.

“Some people come into our lives to teach us about love, not to be the one we love.”

So here I am, trying to heal from this old wound. It’s a process, and it takes time.

But maybe, just maybe, I’ll find peace in knowing that my feelings were real, even if they weren’t reciprocated.

And who knows?

Life has a funny way of bringing the right people into our lives when we least expect it.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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