CHAPTER 1: The Meeting in the Rain
Date: October 22, 2019
The rain slid down the windows of the old bookstore in the city center like tears. It was one of those days when the world seemed drowned in the grayness of autumn. Nikola stood leaning against the poetry shelf, holding a book with yellowed pages. He was reading a poem about love – the kind he had never felt but always imagined.
As he turned the pages, he heard the chime of the entrance door. The wind rushed inside, carrying with it the scent of wet leather, vanilla perfume… and her.
Adelina walked in, soaked to the bone, with a smile that could ignite flames in even the coldest heart. Her eyes met his, as if by accident. For a second, just a moment – but in reality, it was the beginning of everything.
"Hi…" she whispered as she moved toward the classics shelf. Nikola opened his mouth to say something, but the words stuck. Instead, he handed her the book he was holding.
"This is one of my favorites," he murmured. Adelina smiled. "Then we already have something in common."
In the next few minutes, time stopped. They spoke as if they had known each other forever – about books, music, dreams, fears. She told him that she was studying psychology, that she loved writing letters but never sent them. He – that he worked in an advertising agency but felt lost among people.
The rain fell outside, and in their universe, something quiet yet powerful was being born.
She took the book, smiled again, and said: "I'll bring it back. And we'll see each other again, right?"
"I'll be waiting for you," he replied.
CHAPTER 2: The Walk That Changed Everything
Date: October 27, 2019
Nikola and Adelina met again a few days later. It was a sunny afternoon – as if autumn had softened just for them. They met in the park near the lake, where street musicians played jazz and the air smelled of roasted chestnuts.
He handed her a rose – not red, but white. A symbol of a new beginning. She took it with a smile.
"Many people underestimate white roses," he said.
"And what do they symbolize for you?"
"A pure feeling. No masks."
Their conversation was like a dance – a step forward, a smile, a retreat, a question. They talked about their families. Adelina lived with her mother – her father had left them when she was a child. Since then, she never fully trusted men. Nikola, on the other hand, had a younger brother suffering from a severe form of autism. He was the reason Nikola had learned patience and understanding.
They passed by an old fountain, and she asked:
"What's the bravest thing you've ever done?"
"Inviting you to this walk," he answered.
She laughed. "This is just the beginning."
They sat on a bench and stayed silent. But their silence wasn't awkward – it was deep. He handed her an earbud and played the song 'Dance with Me' – something old, Bulgarian. She closed her eyes and smiled.
At that moment, they both knew something real was happening.
Something that doesn't repeat.
CHAPTER 3: The First Tears and Sleepless Nights
Their love grew slowly, like a gentle melody that no one rushes to finish. Every day Nikola and Adelina exchanged voice messages, letters, pictures, poems. They saw each other often – sometimes for an hour, sometimes all night.
But one evening, everything changed.
Adelina called him, her voice trembling. "Can you come to my place?"
He didn't ask why – he just left. He found her crying, sitting on the kitchen floor. In her hands – a letter.
"My mom… we're moving. To another city. She can't afford the rent anymore."
Nikola hugged her. "We'll figure something out."
"You don't understand… This is the end."
He stayed quiet. He didn't try to convince her. He just sat beside her and held her hand.
That night, they fell asleep on the floor, cuddled, while the radio softly played Valya Balkanska.
The next few days were heavy. Every moment they spent together was marked by the feeling that it could be the last. They walked through their favorite places – the bookstore, the park bench, the bridge over the river.
One evening, she told him:
"You know what scares me the most? That one day I'll meet another man… and I'll search for your eyes in his."
Nikola gave her a locket with a small note inside:
"I will love you even when you're gone."
Her tears soaked his shirt.
"And if I don't come back?"
"I'll wait for you. Always."
CHAPTER 4: The Farewell and the Long Silence
Date: November 17, 2019
The train station was cold. Nikola held her hand as if that could stop the train.
Adelina was silent. She wore a hood, her eyes swollen from crying. Her father stood aside, while her mother packed the last bag.
"I don't want us to say goodbye like this," Nikola whispered.
"We're not saying goodbye… we're just stopping time for a while," she replied, smiling through her tears.
Their last kiss was slow. It felt like a promise no one knew if they could keep.
The train left.
She stood by the window. He ran along the platform. Until there was nothing left but fog and silence.
Days passed. Nikola wrote every night. He sent letters, emails, messages. But her replies became fewer and fewer.
Adelina now lived in Plovdiv. New school, new people. New problems.
Her first "sorry I didn't write" came on December 5.
Then – silence until Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, Nikola sat in front of an empty cup of tea, imagining she would appear at the door. She didn't.
He wrote her only:
"Wherever you are… know that you're still here. Inside me."
No reply came.
Then came the sleepless nights, the confused days, and the quiet tears that you can't see but can feel.
CHAPTER 5: The Ex — Ghosts from the Past
Date: January 11, 2020
Martin returned to her life unexpectedly.
Her old boyfriend – the one who had left scars that Adelina hid behind smiles and jokes. He was handsome, confident, dangerously charming. And he knew exactly what to say to slip back into her heart.
He showed up at her school after he moved back for family reasons. As if fate had played a dark joke.
– "I never thought I'd see you again…" – he smiled.
– "I didn't think so either." – Adelina replied coldly.
But the coldness was armor, not truth.
Martin's Backstory
Date: March 15, 2019
Martin and Adelina had been together for 6 months. They met during a school trip to Veliko Tarnovo.
He was the bad boy; she – the dreamer who believed that love could change him.
Their arguments were stormy. Sometimes they fought over silly things, but other times… Martin became harsh. Not physically, but with words that cut deep.
Their last conversation was in June:
– "You're too sensitive, Adi!"
– "And you're too cold!"
They broke up in tears. But not without feelings.
And now – in the new city, he was there again.
Attempts to Win Her Back
Martin started texting her, looking for her. He sent flowers. Once, he even brought her a black rose.
– "I know I hurt you. But you can't tell me you're happy with that boy from Stara Zagora."
– "You can't talk about Nikola like that!" – she shouted.
But doubts crept in. Nikola had given her his heart. And Martin reminded her how easy it is to lose yourself in the past.
Letter to Nikola
Date: January 14, 2020
"Nicki,
Please… don't be mad.
Someone from my past showed up and messed everything up. I don't want to lose you, but I don't know who I am anymore.
I… need time."
CHAPTER 6: Scattered Hearts
Date: January 25, 2020
Nikola sat by the window in his small apartment—staring at the night city, his thoughts shattered by silence. The notebook lay open on the table. Every page was a drop of his soul: unsent letters, confessions of guilt, wishes, and promises he could never fulfill.
In his memory, her images collided—her smile in the bookstore, the white roses, her closed eyes under the old music. The pain was real, stabbing him.
He couldn't stop thinking about how much he loved her—to love is to keep feeling, even when there is no hope.
The clock struck two in the morning. Nikola picked up the pen, tilted his head, and wrote:
"I know I've lost you. But if there's a drop of you out there—I give myself to find it."
He didn't send the letter. He placed it between the pages. He only fell asleep when his hand grew tired.
CHAPTER 7: The Shadow of Choice
Date: February 1, 2020
At the café on Vasil Levski Street, the usual cold wind blew through. Adelina sat alone at the corner table, a cup of coffee in front of her, long since gone cold. Martin was watching her with that confident yet deceitful gaze of his. He spoke, promised, painted pictures of a future without doubts.
But she only listened to how her heart stirred, like water moving beneath ice. She remembered how her eyes shone at the first rose, how her tears from that first conversation weighed heavier than the cold wind.
— "With me, you can be strong," Martin said.
— "With you, I can only be… someone's shadow," she replied softly.
His words froze; he felt control slipping away. Adelina stood up, gathered the cup. She stepped outside into the cold without looking back. The wind embraced her, and she allowed a single tear—stronger and more honest than anything she had felt in months.
CHAPTER 8: A Letter Without a Recipient
Date: February 14, 2020
Nikola received the envelope on February 14—Valentine's Day. But love is not always celebrated with joy. The letter inside was short, but heavy:
"I didn't have the courage to stay. I didn't have the strength to leave.
Every night, when I'm silent—I'm talking to you.
When I'm with someone else—I'm with you in my thoughts.
You are my 'what if…'
Forgive me for not knowing how to love the right way.
— A."
Nikola felt his heart pulse, as if every beat counted the things left unsaid. He stabbed the pen into the darkness. He paused, frozen. Then he opened the notebook and wrote:
"You are my 'it already is…'"
Then he placed the letter beside him and fell asleep in the dark.
CHAPTER 9: Requiem Over the Bridge
Date: February 29, 2020
Plovdiv, the old bridge over the Maritsa River. Nikola stood on the platform, his voice breaking from the echo and the wind. Night. The city lights reflected on the water, as if hundreds of eyes were witnessing his sorrow.
He looked at the spot where they once stood together—their hands barely touching, their hearts beating in sync.
"Hello, Adi," he whispered, calling out to her across miles and fog.
Silence answered. Only the wind carried her letter with him and struck it into the darkness.
Nikola staggered, dragging his shadows. This was his requiem—a music without sound, a love without answer, a bridge without return.
CHAPTER 10: That Day—After the Rain
Date: March 15, 2020
The same bookstore, broken windows, just like that first rainy October day, but now the sun was shining. Nikola walked in and saw an empty spot on the shelves—the place where she once walked in, carrying a scent of vanilla.
He looked at the book he once gave her. He picked it up—its cover yellowed, the font aged. He found a note:
"If I ever hug you again—it will be because I've found my way back to myself."
No one stood behind her. She didn't appear. But something inside him shifted—quietly, but irrevocably.
Nikola stepped outside, the air soft after the rain. The sun broke through the clouds. He closed the book and walked down the street. He didn't know where to, but for the first time in months—he felt he could walk.