Michael 2.0

Part 15

Charlotte glanced at her watch once again; 1:45 PM, it was about time. She tried her best to control the nervous habit to tap her foot on the ground so there would be no noise. Dr. Gregory was right, she examined the long corridor and there were no cameras there, and the place was almost deserted, for being a transitioning passage.

Foolishly, she took a little mirror from her purse, to check on her face. It seemed stupid, but she wanted to look pretty when she’d see Michael again.

The distant footsteps surprised Charlie, and she instinctively stepped back. The shadows in the beginning of the corridor indicated the presence of two people, and she knew who they were.

“Michael!” she ran to him, happy that she could finally see him again. Without thinking, without even remembering what he was, she hugged him tightly.

“Charlotte!” He said. “You are here! You came to see me! I knew you would!”

He put his hands on her face, looking amazed at her.

“You are crying again,” he smiled. “Don’t cry. You are too beautiful to cry.”

“Michael,” she whispered, tasting his name coming from her mouth.  She took his hands into hers. “You have to listen to me.”

“What’s happening?”

“Let’s keep moving,” Dr. Gregory said.

“I am not allowed to see you anymore,” Charlie said, as they started walking, still holding hands. “But you must be good, Michael. Just try to be happy now. You must.”

“I can’t, Charlotte!” he said, his voice agonizing. “You don’t understand… I cannot be happy without you. I don’t know why, but the time I spend without you is so sad and empty. I think about you all the time, and I wish to see you, to hear your voice, and to learn things from you.”

Michael slowed his pace a bit. “Do you remember when I asked you how does love feel like?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “Of course I do.”

“It took me long o understand it. But I do now. I realized at the minute I saw myself without you, but I think I knew it from the moment I first met you.” He stopped in the middle of the corridor, and held her face between his hands. “I love you, Charlotte.”

She sobbed as she heard the words she had been secretly longing to hear, the words she would dream about every night. “Michael, I love you too…”

“I need to see you every day,” he said. “I don’t care about anything else. I need to see you, Charlotte. Please visit me.”

“No, Michael, I can’t, they won’t let me see you.”

He took off his pocket the necklace she had sent him. “I think of you the whole time. Please, don’t let me live this life without you.”

“Michael, keep this safe,” she wrapped his hand around the necklace. “And remember me by it. Do you remember when you asked me if love ends?”

“You said real love never ends.”

“That’s right. It will not end. Just remember the good times we had together, and be happy.”

“No,” he muttered. “I thought love was supposed to make us happy. I cannot be happy like this.”

“Not every love story has a happy ending,” Charlie said. “But I want you to be happy and to be good. Please, do so for me.”

She approached him, and placed a single and tender kiss on his warm lips.

“I love you, Michael,” she sobbed. “Goodbye.” 

"Come, Michael," Dr. Gregory gently pulled him away from Charlie. "We don't have much time."

"It hurts," Michael said, as he walked away looking at Charlie. "Love is an evil feeling. It rejoices, and then it hurts.""