Congratulations, darling. You lose.

You lose and yet, I congratulate you. Quite an irony, eh? To get the hang of things, I will have to go back to where we began --- the good old, lovely days of being in love.

We talked, became friends. Oh! you gave me the attention I always craved. You made me believe in you and then slowly, my dearest, you became my confidant. I confided even the smallest of my feelings in you; I did what I normally hesitate from doing: I trusted you.

So, like in every happy 'man-woman' relationship, we went out; stayed together. We laughed and cried, argued and made up. It was very 'fairy tale-ish'. I should have known life doesn't work like that; fairy tales do not happen. But like any person who has been hit by cupid's arrow, I was blinded.  I fell deeper, and it is never too wise to fall. I fell just to find out you had no ladder to help me climb out. Oh! The agony.

You left me down in the pit, with my own salty waters drowning me further. Oh darling, I felt terrified; it was dreadful down there. I still had a very faint light called hope, but not for long. You snatched even that, leaving me shouting in the darkness. Well well, too bad for you - I learned to swim. It took me a long time, but I did. I succeeded in getting out. The terrors keep returning; there are days when I feel the void - when I feel the emptiness penetrating the protective charms I have managed to put around me - seems like the charms are still weak. I am still happy I could put up the walls again, they just need some more strength.

The tears come streaming every once in a while; the urge to shout overpowers the sensibility at times - but baby, I am getting better at controlling myself.

So today, I congratulate you for doing this to me. You were successful, even if for a short duration.

I would also love to congratulate you for your newly found love. The beauty of love, it can come anytime. It does not care if the person you said you loved the most is still hurting and crying over you; it will make you feel the butterflies.

I congratulate you on your victory - the victory of falling in the never-ending circle of falling in and out of love. You may go ahead and say the same things to the one you currently "love".

You lost the one who loved you with everything she had. I lost you too, but now that I think of it, I don't see it as a loss anymore. You went for good; I can see the things I kept ignoring. Maybe we are both right from our different perspectives, but how do I forgive you for the false promises and the heartbreak?

So, my dearest, congratulations -- for you seem to have immense love inside you that needs multiple receptors. Congratulations - it seems like the happiness you have been so desperately chasing is right in your hands now. Congratulations, you have finished your time period with me successfully. Congratulations!

A note to self and to all: never be fooled by an innocent face. As the great Shakespeare once said: "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't".