I confess – I set out to be cruel to you today.

I wanted to punish you for my hurt. But I couldn’t. I saw you and that warm, resilient flower inside me opened up, like the sun returning after winter.

I wanted to push you away but something stronger kicked in. An elemental force. A bloom of longing. Something primitive to smash my sophisticated determination. Damn it!

It will be difficult having you around again – feeling what I feel, knowing what I know.

Perhaps if you weren’t so beautiful. Perhaps if I did not love you so. Or if you were still in another country. But alas – you are here, and I am breathless once more.

And, as I promised you I would be…quiet.