Opia; the ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eye, which can feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable.
He was holding me tightly and I was staring into his brown eyes trying to decide what to do. I felt a weird mixture of emotions and too much was tumbling through my mind to focus. I knew I should say something, but the words wouldn’t form.
His eyes were so intense with the weight of the question that I felt vulnerable. What would he do if I said the wrong thing? I couldn’t think of that. However, I couldn’t think of an answer either.
I took a deep breath and tried to break eye contact with him. I just needed a moment without his gaze. Would he see that as a wrong move though? Catching myself just in time, I wondered what was really holding me back from answering him.
There were too many things….What did I want though? I bit my lip, juggling the words on my tongue. It could only be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ that I squeezed out. My heart knew the right one to say, but my head said the opposite.
Whatever I picked, it would change both our lives.
‘Well?’ he said, finally crumbling at the long wait.
I took a deep breath and hoping I said the right thing, I replied, ‘I love you too.’
The Story Files 