Six Valentines’ Days Written by :Dalia D. If in your lifetime, you are able to spend a Valentines’ Day with someone you love; even he does not know you love him; even both of you are celebrating that day as normal friends, I think you should be satisfied. As for me, I had spent six Valentine’s days with the person I loved. Although he only treats me as a friend, I feel that that’s enough. Although now, I don’t have the chance to see him again, but having all these memories of us spending those days together in my mind, I think I will die without any regrets. I could still remember the day when school reopened in year 1999, I was sent to a completely new class. Most of the classmates do not know each other, as we all had come from different classes last year. Our form teacher had assigned our seats by a traditional method ------ according to our names in the name list. “ Mr Olaf Zaned , you will be seating behind Miss Malwina Zimoswka.” Our teacher said. Olaf Zaned. What an extraordinary name, sounds like some scholar ‘s name, I thought. Out of curiousity, I turned my head to check out how he looked like. “ Wow, Malwina, you are tall. Luckily I am tall too, or else, my view will be blocked by you.” That tanned guy with a height of 1.8m tall said. I was impressed by him for remembering my name in such as short time. But he spoilt that good image he had left by saying: “ You are sooooooooo skinny, you really look like a bamboo pole.” My height is 1.7m and I was born to be thin. I am still skinny even though I eat a lot of junk food. My friends had given me nicknames such as “bamboo pole”, ‘sugarcane” or even “ airport runway” cos I am not voluptuous. Well, I don’t mind them teasing about my figure , because I am born this way and should live with it. But this new classmate Olaf started teasing me on the first day he met me, don’t he knew that that’s rude. I will now take my “revenge”. “ Well, I know that I do not have the figure of some sexy lady. Thus I am not a bimbo, And I have a brain. If not, I will not be sent to this class, which is the best class of the level. And now I have to bear with having someone who look as black as a charcoal everyday” I retorted. I had said he looked like a charcoal because he was really tanned. That’s quite usual for Polish, who have fair, pinkish skin “Oooooi, you sure know how to tease people. Looks like I have found my match.” He replied. Since that day, whenever we got the chance, we would start teasing each other. The Valentines’ Day in that year fell on a Sunday. I was spending the evening alone in my home when I received a phone call from him. “I know you are at home because you have no boyfriend to celebrate this day with you” he started mocking at me. “Well, I need you to help me with these tough Math’s problems.” “And why you are at home alone too? You also have no girlfriend to celebrate this day with.” I teased him back. There is silence at the other end of the line. I guessed I might have hurt his feelings and I apologized immediately. “It’s ok.’ He said. “ I am sure I can get a girlfriend by next year as I am so handsome and intelligent. And I ‘m sure I can find some girl with a figure better than you!” We continued to teased each other, and talk a lot till midnight. That night, I could not sleep, for I kept thinking about the long conversation we had ………. By the Valentines’ day in 2000, he still couldn’t manage to get a girlfriend. He asked me to go out with him, for he was feeling lonely. He confided to me about his past failures in his love life. I listen attentively and consoled him. But I never told him that I had liked him. In 2001, we had enrolled into the same junior college, and coincidentally, we were sent to the same class. Thus we had spent our valentines’ day that year in the class. As we are walking to the bus stop on our way home, he said: “ Looks like I had spent another V-day with you again, my good friend. Although I am quite sad that I don’t have a girlfriend to spend the day with, but seeing you are also alone without a boyfriend, I felt better. At least I am not alone.” “ Hope that next year, you will find someone to spend the day with. And I will be spared from your teasing then.” I repressed my feelings and sent him this wish. On Valentines’ day in 2002, a classmate suddenly asked him if he ever considered me to be his girlfriend as we are of compatible height and we often have a good time teasing each other. “Ha Ha! I won’t like those type of skinny looking girls.” He replied.” I always treated her like my younger sister or best friend.” Not wanting to be a loser, I lied to the whole class, saying:“I also don’t like him too! I also only treat him as a good friend. I won’t like those guys who are too tanned. Furthermore, if I had like him, I would had chased after him when we were in secondary school.” True, I was feeling hurt after having heard him said that he had never liked me all these years. All along, there was only me who had feelings for him. But at least he treats me as a best friend. What more could I asked from him? On the morning of Valentines’ Day of 2003, I received a call from him, asking me to go out with him. “ I am going to go for National Service soon, and had yet find a girlfriend. Sometimes, I felt that I am a failure. Why doesn’t any girl like me?” he groaned in despair. “Maybe your fate had not come yet. But I believe that there is at least a girl in this world who liked you. It’s just that you might not have noticed it.” I nearly blurted out that I had liked him, but I manage to restrain myself. For I remembered there is a saying that goes: what you are destined to have, you will have it; what you are not destined to have, not force yourself to get it. Suddenly, I felt that he seems so far away from me. Is this what the saying said that: the greatest distance in the world is not between life and death; the greatest distance in the world is that you don’t know I love you even though I am standing right in front of you. Though that day was a sad day for me, there was one thing that made me smiled. As we bid each other goodbye, he handed me a musical box. “ This is for you.” He said. “ Thanks for being such a good friend in all these years. You are not getting any younger; it’s time you should find a boyfriend. Hope that next year, there will be some guy whom you can spend your Valentines ‘day with.” But still, he was the one I had spent the Valentines’ day with in the next year (2004). However, this time, he had brought a shocking piece of news. “I am telling you this as I knew you can be trusted. I had done something recently which I regret very much.” “ What have you done?” I asked with fear, for the look on his face giving me the feeling that the news meant big trouble. “Last week, I went to a disco pub with my friends and I met a girl who I cannot resist. I ended up ….. having…… ‘One Night Stand’ with her” I could not belief my ears, and remain silent, for I don’t know how to response. Seeing him clutching his head in despair and saying that he wished he shouldn’t had done that, I also felt hopeless and upset. I could not forget that day, for it was the first time I see him crying, for it was the first time I saw his weakness. In 2205, the company I was working for asked me to consider working abroad in their headquarters in Canada, as they were satisfied with my performance. Since the day hearing from Olaf that he had the “one night stand”, I was quite disappointed at him. Even though we still continue to go out on date regularly, we are still normal friends. Now, I don’t even know I still like him, for I cannot accept someone I loved is no longer a virgin before marriage. Suddenly, I want to escape. Escape from him. Maybe I would feel better if I did not see him. Without giving much consideration, I agreed to go to Canada. Coincidentally, the departure date fell on Valentines’ day that year. I did not informed Olaf that I will be leaving for Canada for 2 years. I left him on Valentines’ Day in 2005. I only want to escape for a while, but I escaped forever. I had decided to stay permanently in Canada, to further my studies and build my career there. I don’t want to face him again. For I know that, even I am standing right beside him, there will be a great distance between us. As for now, the distance is even greater as we are living on two different parts of the world. But whenever I am lonely and started to think of the times we had spend together, he seems to be so near……………… The End.