Chantelle's Broken Heart

Although she had been waiting since early afternoon, she refused to move from that spot. She knew for certain that he was going to show up. He owed it to her. The sun was beginning to set on the gloomy day, and the temperature was beginning to cool around her. But none of that, nor his tardiness would deter her from meeting with him one more time.

As Chantelle Montague took another impatient sigh, she breathed in that familiar damp wooden smell of maple trees just after a light drizzle. When she looked around the clearing, memories of her lover, Michel Pondaven, flooded her mind. She scanned the area and saw the spot where they had a picnic, the spot where he confessed that he loved her for the first time, and the place where they first made love.

Ever since their first date, where he kissed her for the first time against the very tree she leaned on, they came back to that clearing in the woods time and time again. It was their special place; a hideaway from her disapproving parents. They could enjoy the warm embrace of each other while continuing their descent into love as if they were the only two people in the world. Replaying those pleasant, beautiful memories in her mind only made her angrier.

The love she had was so intense in those moments. How was it possible that he didn’t feel the same? How could he let that love go? Why? For months she had desperately wanted to know the answer to those questions and many more. The fact of the matter was that it had been almost a year since they had been together in that clearing. Almost three months after that moment, he told her that their relationship was over. Another two months after that was when she heard that he was to marry someone else. If it wasn’t for a chance meeting at the local bakery, she may have never had the opportunity to set up this one last encounter. Soon, he would move to the other side of the country to marry his fiancé and start his new life.

As the events of the past year replayed in her mind causing her to relive the roller coaster ride of emotions she felt over that time, she heard the faint sounds of bushes rustling and horse hooves. Chantelle quickly attempted to fix herself up as best as she could. Months of depression turned her hair into a frazzled mess. A while ago, she was able to braid about a third of it but was too distraught to do the rest. For now, she just wiped her face clean of any tears, straightened her black frilly hat, and fixed the long hairpin at the back of her head that held her braid up around her like a halo.

She looked ahead to see Michel emerge through the edge of the clearing, riding his horse. He stuck his hand straight out in front of him to clear any branches in his way. When he was clear, he brushed his shoulders clean of any loose branches and leaves. Then his eyes locked onto Chantelle. He gave her an apologetic smile as he trotted slowly towards her. Chantelle rolled her eyes slightly but immediately wished she didn’t. She didn’t want to give Michel the satisfaction of knowing that she felt anything for him. Although, considering how emotional she had been lately, it wouldn’t take much for those feelings to bubble to the surface.

As he drew closer, she could see clearly the features that helped her fall deep in love with him. His broad shoulders, his well kept attire, his handsome face with dark brown eyes and his fair skin. He turned the horse to the left so that he could tie it up to one of the smaller trees. When he was done, he walked over to Chantelle, exaggerating his apologetic smile even more. How can he smile at a time like this?

“My sweet, sweet, Chantelle” he said with his arms wide open as he walked up to her. This was a phrase that brought her such reassuring comfort when he whispered it into her ear. Now, it disgusted her that he would ruin that phrase by saying it when he was in love with someone else. Still, she kept her face as emotionless as possible. She allowed herself to just barely show a slight smile and say...

“Hello Michel”

“Please forgive me for being so late. I desperately wanted to make haste and be here on time. But I had important business to take care of. Things have been so busy since... err...” he stuttered. Chantelle knew he was making a conscious effort to not bring up the marriage. He must have sensed she was having trouble dealing with it. “Can you forgive me my sweet, sweet, Chantelle?” he asked as he came close enough to embrace her. She desperately wanted to resist the urge to return his embrace, but to feel those arms wrapped around her was a pleasure impossible to deny.

Once he embraced her, she instantly regretted it. The hug was one filled with such coldness. It was a hug similar to the kind that two cousins who barely knew each other would be obliged to give at a family reunion. It definitely was not one fitting of two former lovers. Especially, lovers who would be doing much more than hugging in that very spot if it was just a year earlier.
“Do not worry, Michel. I completely understand why you are busy”.

“Oh that is fantastic news. I would hate for you to be upset with me.”

“Well, then feel relieved because I am not,“ said Chantelle. Michel chuckled “What’s so funny?”

“If it wasn’t for those icy blue eyes of yours, I may just believe you” said Michel with a knowing smile. “They look like they could turn me to stone”. Chantelle was disappointed in herself for not keeping a straight face. After an awkward pause, Michel spoke up, “So this is an interesting place for you to meet with me. We sure have had some fond memories here,” said Michel as he looked around the clearing reminiscing in his mind as Chantelle did earlier. “So why exactly did you ask to meet here?”

Chantelle’s head drew a blank. In spite of all the thoughts that had been racing through her mind this last year, she didn’t really think about what she wanted to say when this moment ultimately came. It was more her heart than her head that asked him to meet here when they crossed paths at the bakery. As Chantelle struggled to find words to say, she could see that Michel was looking at her sympathetically. She tried to straighten her posture to salvage any sort of perception of confidence she could. After some uncomfortable attempts at trying to explain what was on her mind but failing to say anything coherent, Michel interrupted.

“Oh Chantelle, my sweet sweet Chantelle. I know since we ended our romance, that it has been hard for you. It has been equally as hard for me too”.
“Really? I am sure you’ve had the warmth of your fiancé’s arms to console you?” snapped Chantelle. Her emotions were cracking through now.
“Chantelle, just because I may have found another love does not mean that I just stop caring for you”.

“You have a funny way of showing that you care Michel. If I didn’t see you at the bakery by chance, I would have never seen you again”.

“Fate would never allow that to happen. You should know that, Chantelle” Michel looked away in shame. “Like I said, I know my decision was something that was hard for you to accept”. Chantelle replayed that moment in her mind; her on her bedroom floor, sobbing, begging, and pleading for Michel to stay as he calmly walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. “It wouldn’t have been right for me to ruin your healing, by reinserting myself into your life when you weren’t ready. That was the best thing I could do for you, and now we are here, able to look back at the fond memories we shared. We should cherish this moment before the plains and mountains are between us”.

Maybe he had a point. All though she was far from over it, she was much better off than she was even a month ago. It still hurt her deeply to hear him reinforce that he was leaving and that their relationship was over.

“But... but... it’s just that... when were together,” said Chantelle. As she struggled to find the words to say, tears started to flow down her cheek. “The love I had for you was so strong... it was so pure... it was so unbreakable. There’s not another man on this planet that could have come between us. How... how could it not be the same for you? How could you leave me on my bedroom floor begging for you to come back?”

Michel gently raised his hand to wipe Chantelle’s tears. As his hand drew closer to her cheek, she noticed that he was wearing an engagement band. She felt the cold of the metal band on her face when he placed his hand on her cheek and gently wiped her tears away with his thumb. That just further reinforced that he had moved on and belonged to someone else. That cold touch from that silver band was like salt being poured on to her broken heart. She started crying uncontrollably.

“Why’d you leave me, why’d you leave me” she repeated. Michel brought her in close and hugged her tightly as she continued to sob and repeat that phrase. “Why’d you leave me”. Her tears left a large wet mark on his vest as she buried her head into his chest, trying to seek any comfort she could. She felt him sway her slightly as if rocking a baby gently to sleep.

Then he whispered in her ear, “I am here now”. He gently kissed her on her forehead... then gently kissed her on her cheek... Then he gently kissed her on her earlobe. A shiver went straight down her spine as visions of them making love that almost always commenced with a simple kiss on her earlobe, raced through her mind. But almost as quick as the shiver went down her spine, Chantelle was snapped back into the reality of the moment. That kiss extremely inappropriate at this time. She pulled away from Michel just far enough to look him in his eyes with a confused look.

Almost as if he was reading her mind, Michel said, “This place has always felt like it was our own little world. If we have one more moment together for us to remember, only the birds and the trees will know. I think you need closure and maybe one more night of passion in this place just meant for you and I will give you the closure you desperately need”.

As she processed what he just said, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was absolutely ridiculous. He clearly spent most of their rendezvous reaffirming the love they once had was now meant for someone else. But by the goodness of his heart he was willing to give her one more night of passion for closure? The condescending nature of the statement disgusted her. But the more she thought about it, the clearer the answers to those questions in her mind became. And the clearer they became, the more enraged she became.
But even still, as he closed his eyes and moved his head forward, led by his lips, her lips were drawn to his like a magnetic pull. But the warmth she once felt from his kiss was completely absent.

As he unbuttoned his vest, with eyes still closed and lips still engaged in the kiss, she took the long hairpin in the back of her hair out. The braid fell quickly down her back. Just as Michel was taking his left arm out of his vest she broke away from the kiss. All Michel had time to do was give Chantelle a curious look before she plunged the pointy end of her long hairpin into his neck.

Her cold blue eyes looked deep into his. A mixture, of pain, shock, and confusion invaded his face as blood spurted out of his neck. He tried to reach out and grab her. She screamed and stabbed him in the neck again. He grasped his neck desperately trying to stop the bleeding but blood poured through the fingers. He lunged forward at her but she swiftly sidestepped him. He clumsily hit his head on the tree trunk and crumpled down to the ground.

She started to walk away while looking into his eyes with her ice cold stare as he desperately crawled towards her, leaving a trail of blood on the grass. One hand clutched his neck while the other was outstretched towards her. He was trying to say something but all that came out of his mouth were gasps for air and blood.

She hurriedly untied his horse and climbed on to the saddle. Before she left she looked down upon him one last time. His face was full of anguish, pain, desperation, and blood. It was much different than the handsome face he rode into the clearing with but much more fitting too. And with that thought, she whipped the horse and galloped out of the clearing along the path she came in.