He had dreamed about that moment so many nights, imagined it, and fantasized about it more than anything else. What would she say? What would he say? There were too many emotions and feelings, too many memories that tainted every fantasy he had. There was no way of knowing it and life had already taught him that it is rarely as we imagine it.

“Hello?” one word was enough to make him gasp, to make his tongue heavy and motionless and to fill his head with images of her face. “Hello?” she insisted. “Lawrence? Is that you?” He sighted and answered simply “Yes.”. “Hi” she replied breathy, “How are you?” He was suddenly angry, flooded by dark red feelings of hate against that beautiful creature that was responsible for his demise. “How am I? What the fuck do you want Marina?” he said fuming. He heard her gasp on the other side and swallowing she continued “Well, maybe I deserve that… I need to talk to you Lawrence.” “Then talk.” He said still holding on to the vile feeling that was filling his stomach. “Not on the phone, I need to talk to you in person. Can we meet?” He wanted to yell, to tell her to fuck off and leave him alone. But the prospect of seeing her one more time, of smelling her sweet flowery scent and look into her ocean green eyes were just too much for him and bigger, much bigger than his hate and so, against his better judgment, he caved in. “Ok. I’m in the city, I can meet you in one hour.”. “Brilliant.” She replied smiling. “Let’s meet at the park, ok? One hour.” He hung up and closed his eyes with a profound dread. What had he done?

Walking alone in this noisy city, he considered standing her up. She deserved it, that was a given. She had always had that power, that special and rare way of making people do what she wanted. That gift, that wonderful gift, had turned out to be a curse for him as once again he found himself doing exactly what she wanted. He stopped himself and considered once more if he should really meet her. Was he even prepared to see her once again? Was he going to spend the next six months in bitter agony once more? He couldn't handle that. His body couldn't handle that. He was just starting to recover, to feel like himself again Was this really a good idea?

Standing there, in the middle of the street on a busy afternoon, he looked around to the familiar rhythm of the city that had once been theirs. He saw a small bar across the street and feeling a sudden urge for the advice that only alcohol could provide, he walked towards it and opened the heavy door. The bar was dark, all wood, and smelled of spilled beer. He sat on one of the many empty stools and signaled the man behind the counter. The white haired man had benevolent blue eyes, the kind of eyes that have seen too much and could not be fooled any more. He looked at Lawrence knowingly and asked what he was having. “Jack Daniels,  please. Make it a double actually.” He replied, not lifting his eyes from the wood counter.  The man made himself busy, ignoring Lawrence. He gave him the glass and walked way.

The bar was empty and the light dim. An old jazz record played in the background and as he took his firs sip he let his mind wander to the day he decided to ask her to marry him.

Will Lawrence and Marina meet in the next Chapter?! You'll find out soon :)

If you missed the other chapters, click below!

Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III