"Love you Know I love you, write to me if you want," Mekhi says while holding me tight.

I nod, and then I hear him whisper "But don't wait for me."

Leaving a soft kiss on my forehead and lips, he is gone. Walking out the door with Pops, heading to base for a long deployment except this time he doesn't want me to wait.

I am left standing in Mekhi's living room alone. Stunned.

In the silence, the familiar sense of sadness covers my heart while my mind tries to figure out what just happened.

Mekhi and I met seven months ago. We went on a date the night we met. Mekhi took me to the carnival; the date matched his personality perfectly because he is a big kid.

Our first date was one of the most romantic. Mekhi arrived at my home with a dozen red roses. In between riding the rides at the carnival, he fed me cotton candy, which led to us sharing our first kiss.

While I was eating my cotton candy he leaned down and kissed the sugar off my lips.

After taking me on one of the best dates ever, he told me he was being deployed for six months starting the following day; he asked if I would be his girlfriend and wait for him.

I am a sucker for love and romance so I agreed. I believe Love always wins. Besides, I could already picture us together.

The next six months were filled with weekly letters, erratic phone calls, and eagerly counting down until his return at Christmas.

A week before Christmas Mekhi's commanding officer called me to explain that the unit was being held and would not make it home by Christmas. He said Mehki begged him to call me so I wouldn't keep waiting for him and be disappointed on Christmas when he didn't come home.

Disappointment could not come close to explaining how I felt. But that is what I signed up for being the girlfriend of a soldier. I spent the Christmas holiday distracting my self with extra shifts at work. I even volunteered to work Christmas eve. I am a department Manager for Bloomingdales and I go to school full time. Christmas time in the retail industry extra help is always needed. 

Honestly, I also wanted an excuse to wear my new Vivienne Westwood dress. The  red satin dress, with a sweetheart neckline fitted bodice and full skirt. I knew it was worth the investment when my Dad told me I looked like a Christmas Princess. 

Looking at the time, I was surprised that we only had an hour left before the store closed. The day had gone by so fast with all the last-minute shoppers. The store seemed to be emptying out, I headed to the breakroom to rest before we prepared for closing. 

" Manager needed at the Customer Service Desk" I heard the page as I headed in the opposite direction of the Customer service Desk. I turned around. The closer I  got to the Customer Service area, I heard what sounded like the beginning of trouble.

My first thought was, please don't let it be a complaint about the lack of available boxes.

 I noticed the sales team and customers had these weird expressions. I approached the customer who was standing with his back to me. I assumed he is the one with the issue.

Before I could adjust my face to reflect my, I am here to help the customer's attitude; the customer turned around, and I froze in place.

It was my Mekhi standing close enough for me to touch him. He looked so handsome, standing there in his military dress uniform, holding red roses and cotton candy in one hand and a small box in the other.

He quickly closed the tiny divide between us, leaned over and kissed me. "Merry Christmas, my Love," he said. I remembered I couldn't stop smiling.

That was one of the happiest moments in my life and now a week later I am experiencing one of the saddest moments in my life.

I shake my head to clear those memories from my mind and leave Mekhi's house, knowing I will never return.