Beyond the end

I'm only a man

Kelly welcomed Brandon to the entrance to West Beverly. He kissed her on the cheek.
"The guys are pretty excited, especially those from Blaze."
He followed her silhouette to her office "we only discuss the points you want to touch. At 11 the seniors will all be in the magna classroom"
They entered the office and Kel sat in his chair. She avoided eye contact with him and he knew her all too well
"What's wrong"
"Nothing"
"What's wrong," he repeated to her.
Kelly sighed and stood up going to the window " Bran, what happened the other night"
"Yeah..."
"It was perfect" she quickly contradicted it.
"So what's up?"
"I wish it would continue. For these months. Then everyone will go back to their life"
Brandon felt something crack.
"Like a toy?" He replied.
She scolded him with her gaze.
"Sorry," he said.
"Like I don't want to stop and I want you to know. Like I know it's bound to end. I'm not a little girl and I have a life here. My son is here. But I can't ask you more. I didn't do it years ago and I won't do it now."
"Now it's different"
"No, it's not. Everything has a price. Everything is a choice. But for once I don't want to be afraid. In the end, life is just these moments to be grateful for. I don't want to spend these months pretending that you're not there to avoid the pain or anything that will come next. I want the moment that belongs to me. But I don't know what you want"
Brandon knew exactly what he wanted, but he probably didn't say it because it was an idea he was the only one shaping in those days. He left the choice to her.
He got up. He took her hair off her neck with one hand. And kissed her there. Kel had got his answer. The one she wanted to hear.
"We have to go," she said relieved. The seniors were waiting in the main hall.
Kel observed Brandon speaking to his special audience. SHe loved every gesture, every grimace of his face. The passion he put in his words. He took back for a moment the political passion of university times. He took those students L around the world, at every single moment of his life. It was for that light that she had let him go years ago, it was for that powerful and tangible light that SHe would let him go again.
It was worth watching and listening to him . Grab him . Smile at him when he looked at her at the bottom of the classroom.
He had always seemed so unassailable to her.
SHe told him when it was all over and the seniors left the classroom. He barely smiled.
"I'm just a man, Kel, just a man. See you tonight," he kissed her gently and with a few lines of a distant and hidden pain that Kel couldn't feel.