Please do not distribute or re-post this fiction without contacting it's author.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Please Greg," Norma pleaded, tears furiously clouding her vision of the handsome man that stood in front of her. He avoided her eyes, but his expression was enough to show his desperation and confusion.
Greg shook his head without a word.
"Why? Why are you doing this to me?" she cried. She gazed at
his frame, his shoulders slumped and his face weary. "Don't
leave…"
"It's… it's something I have to do," Greg replied curtly, forcing the words from his throat. He looked just as miserable as her, if not more. "I can't cheat on Jen anymore, Norma."
"No, I love you," she said softly, meaning every word.
"I love you so much it hurts!"
"I love you too," Greg said, on the verge of crying himself. "So in love that I cheated on my own wife… I was so blind to her feelings because of that love, but I'm with her… and…and that's where I'll stay."
"If you love me then be with me!" Norma whined like a young child. "I love you, Greg. I've loved you since the day you walked into my life."
"I can't leave her Norma. I don't want to hurt her. She's been by my side for 8 long years," Greg reasoned, trying to convince himself in the process.
"We can keep it low!" she said in a desperate attempt to keep him with her. "No one will know, no one, I swear," Norma said hysterically.
"She already knows…" Greg said matter-of-factly.
"Jen's given me the ultimatum, Norma. And I can't hurt a woman who gave up the best part of her life for me."
Norma stared at Greg, his words hitting her hard. "But you can hurt a woman who gave up her entire heart, soul and being, just for you?"
"No. God, no Norma," he said. He had only just realized what he had implied. "You're young. You have a whole life ahead of you…"
"You don't understand," Norma screamed, shaking her head in denial. "My life is worth nothing without you!"
"Goodbye," Greg said, his voice in a crackle. His voice betrayed his stone cold expression, exposing his vulnerability and pain. "Goodbye, my love."
Norma could only watch as the man she loved with all her heart walked out the door and slammed it shut.

"He's not worth it, honey," Amy said as she rubbed Norma's back. She watched Norma as she lay on the bed, face pressed against the pillow, drenched by her tears.
"He is… He's worth everything," Norma managed to say through her incessant sobbing.
"If he couldn't bring himself to leave his wife, then he isn't," Amy continued, oblivious to the fragility of her friend's heart. "He was probably just playing you…"
"NO!" Norma screamed as she sat up.
It wasn't like that at all. Greg loved her as much as she loved him. He was just too kind to ever hurt his wife like that. The funniest part was, that Norma came to love him because of it. She loved everything about him, even if it meant she would be hurt by it. "You don't know anything!" Norma yelled at Amy.

"You'll never know how close we were… And now I can't love him anymore! I can't love him or I'll just go insane!"
"I don't see how…" Amy began, wanting to make a point.  She paused when she finally saw the shattered girl that Norma had become. "He loves you, and you love him. Your souls will always be together, Norma."
Fresh tears threatened to aggravate Norma's already swollen, red eyes. She looked at Amy, considering her words seriously, as if her life depended on it. She buried her face in the pillow yet again. "Norma…" Amy called attempting to comfort her.
"I'd like to be alone Amy," Norma replied in a muffled voice. "Don't worry, everything's going to be okay. Our souls are together."
"Okay," Amy answered, glad that her friend had taken comfort in her words. "Take care," she said as she left.
The moment she heard the door slam, Norma got up and pulled out the drawer by her bedside. Her hands searched frantically for the bottle she kept in there. She finally found it, and stared at the label for the longest time - `SLEEPING PILLS'.
Barely seconds later she had forced most of the pills down her throat.
"Everyday I try so hard, but everyday it gets a little harder," she mumbled softly to no one in particular. "And today, it's just too hard, Greg. Just too hard."
  Norma lay down on her bed slowly and buried her face into her pillow. The same bed and pillow that Greg and her used to spend all day in. Closing her eyes, all she could see was Greg as she wept her aching heart to sleep.
"Goodbye, my love"