“You don’t realize the last time is the last time… until you’re halfway down the highway and there’s no one left to text when you arrive.”
Hey,
I drove it again last night.
The Dubai-to-Abu Dhabi stretch —
That same road we swore we’d never let define us.
But it did.
You weren’t there, of course.
I wasn’t expecting you to be.
But every turnoff reminded me of things we turned away from.
I passed by the exit we used to argue at.
The gas station where you’d laugh over burnt karak.
The skyline blurred. The silence got louder.
I told myself I was just going for a drive.
But we both know better.
I came back trying to feel something I lost —
Not you, maybe.
But the version of me that used to believe in us.
In Dubai, I chased pace.
Deadlines. Deals. Distractions.
I told myself it was ambition.
But maybe I just didn’t know how to stay still
Long enough to be loved the way Abu Dhabi offered —
Softly.
Without noise.
I didn’t write to ask for you back.
That chapter — it folded the day you stopped replying,
And I let you.
I just wanted you to know…
When I got to Abu Dhabi this time,
I didn’t hope you’d be there.
I just sat by the water,
And finally answered the question you never asked:
Yes — I did love you.
I just didn’t know how to show it…
Until I saw your absence sitting next to me.
— The man who got there late,
But finally arrived.
