They say that in winter, when the cold weather sets in, old stories come back... That December 6, while decorating the fir tree, he received a message:
"Merry Christmas!".
I hope you have a good year.
I hope you can forgive me for all the things I have done wrong.
I still love you,
Miguel".
Sara had not heard from him for a long time, the time it had taken for her heart to heal and believe in love again.
Miguel and Sara began their story at the age of sixteen. Their first interaction was through the internet. What started out as fun conversations soon turned into the finding that they had many things in common. So, one spring day they decided to meet for the first time.
From the first moment, Sara was captivated by his green eyes. Once they overcame their initial shyness, the conversation began to flow, and since then they have not stopped talking. At a time before the advent of whatsapp, messages to mobile, calls from landline to landline and messenger were the witnesses of their story.
Over time they fell in love with each other, but when Sara moved to Madrid things changed: arguments started because of Miguel's control over her every step. He demanded her attention through calls and messages that were always urgent. The insinuations started about her seeing other guys and the "you make up to conquer them". Miguel got her to stop making herself pretty and to start spacing out her outings. Sara tried to avoid, as much as possible, those discussions that tormented her so much.
One day, in one of his rages, Miguel threw Sara's cell phone against the wall. Another time, he grabbed her arm, and although she told him he was hurting her, he was slow to let her go. But the abuse surpassed all limits the day he pushed her against a closet and, to top it off, the afternoon he hit her. It happened on a terrace, in front of several witnesses. Sara's cheek turned red and she was shocked. "What happened to us?" she wondered. She did not understand how it was possible that the person she loved had assaulted her in such a way.
He forgave him as soon as Miguel apologized. "I got nervous," he justified himself. Fear and guilt began to intertwine. Miguel repeated over and over again that if she left him, he was determined to end her life. And so the abuse expanded in an unhealthy loop.
Sara became isolated. She lost friends and experiences. Even her family didn't understand why she was still in that poisonous relationship. They decided to help her. First they took her to a psychologist and limited her use of her mobile, but Sara got another one that she used secretly. She knew she was hooked on Miguel; she could not stop talking to him.
The last measure of her parents was to meet with the young man's father, but that did not work, it only led to more arguments between Sara and Miguel, and their courtship became entrenched in time. When the relationship finally ended, there were third parties and many lies.
"How do you forgive all that?" asked Sara more than once.
She accepted that she was condemned to live in pain, although she also considered that she had forgiven Miguel in order to overcome her dependence and be able to move on. When she finally managed to get out of the loop, she managed to see beyond all her traumas: life was giving her another chance to fall in love, to be happy with a man who really loved her.
That December 6, Sara knew it was time to kick Miguel out of her life for good. That's why she blocked her phone issue , not only for her peace of mind, but also for her new love, her family and friends. Then she took a deep breath, overcome by a feeling of relief. She left the cell phone on a table to continue decorating the Christmas tree. She smiled: she was looking forward to the new year.
