All's fair in love and war.

It had been many years since I had last seen her face. Emily had been my first and only love. We were childhood sweethearts. We studied in the same secondary school and same neighbourhood. I walked to the café around the corner. I was sure she would be there. That was where I used to see her almost everyday. I remembered how I had lost her to William.
William was the neighbourhood macho man. All of us boys hated him while all the girls worshipped him. There were two things about him that appealed to him. One was his muscles with white skin and other was his never-ending supply of money. Though he could have had any girl he wanted, he had an eye for Emily. I think he hate me because Emily would not even look at him.
One day I was with Emily in the park when two thugs confronted us. They grabbed hold of Emily and demanded my money. I was not much good in a fight so I took the safe way out: I took out my wallet and gave it to them. They laughed as they took it. Then suddenly, I heard a voice behind me: William. He leapt at the thugs and I could see him punching them left and right. One thug ran after his friend. With a sarcastic grin, William handed my wallet to me. I thanked him and turned to Emily. She just stood there and glared at me. Suddenly she shouted, “You coward.”
I shuddered at her words. She had not realized that one reason I did not fight was that I was afraid that she might get hurt. I stood still and looked at her. Then William went forward, took her by the arm and led her away. I stood there for a while and then walked away in a daze. I never recovered from that I read advertisement that asked for volunteered teach in a remote village in Nepal. I volunteered and within a month left the country. While I was away, I did not write to anyone, not even to my family.
I stood outside the café and looked in. No Emily. I turned to go and someone laid an arm on mine. I turned and found myself looking into Emily’s eyes. I recovered quickly and smiled. She looked thinner now and older but she had the same softness in her eyes. “It was a put on,” she said. I looked at her quizzically. “William was no hero. He had arranged for the thugs to put on a drama to get to me. I discovered that only after you left. One of the thugs called and told me everything. It seems that William had promise to pay and then had refused to. He had dared them to tell me; being sure that I would not believe them. But I did.”
I sighed and looked at her. “I am sorry. Will you ever forgive me?” she said softly and bowed her head. I lifted her head up by her chin and looked into her eyes. “I have never loved anyone but you,” I whispered. She fell into my arms and I hugged her for a long time while the crowd in the café clapped. Then I pushed her away gently and asked, “Whatever happened to William?”
“Who cares?” she said and fell into my arms again.