The Meeting (On Hold)

Chapter 6

"It started as a burning sensation where my clock is," Michael started after we settled down on my bed. Hemi crawled in his lap, sensing Michael's emotions. "It stung so bad, it made me shout in pain. It hadn't been like anything I felt before. When I looked down, my clock was glowing. I was so confused because it was counting down, like normal. Then the next second, the numbers started switching faster and faster until I could barely read them anymore and it was just a blur. Next thing I know, it hits zero and the burning stops. I had eleven months left on it, Mads. I was so damn close to meeting her, but now..." He squeezes his eyes shut as a small sob shakes his shoulders. "She's dead, Mads. My soulmate is dead."

A lump starts to form in my throat as I watch him cry. My hands twitch, wanting to reach out to him and pull him in, but my mind is unsure on whether he would push me away or accept the comfort. I make up my mind and scoot across the bed, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pulling him close. His arms immediately wrap around my waist as he pulls me even closer, burying his face in my shoulder as he lets out his sorrows.

"I'm sorry, Mady. I'm so sorry," he cries, squeezing me once before pulling away. He wipes the tears from his cheeks and lets out a shaky breath. "I know I can't take back what I did to hurt you, but I wish I could. I just...I knew that since I was going to have a soulmate, I couldn't get attached to anyone, but I was starting to love you, Mads. And I was scared. I was so scared, and so I did what I thought would make me lose those feelings: I went for a different girl. I tried to get my mind away from you, put it towards the fact that it didn't matter who I had a fling with as long as I didn't love them."

I've never had Michael be this open with me, so when he reveals his feelings, I'm taken aback.

"You're right," I say, placing my hands in my lap. "You can't take back what you did and nothing you ever do will change that. Right now, the hurt of what you did is immense. It will take me a long time to be able to forgive you, if I ever do, for what you did. If you didn't want to get too attached, you could have just broken up with me, not gone and cheated. Maybe after this all cools down, we can work things out between the two of us, but right now..." I look away, my gaze landing on the basket full of fabric scraps, and I'm reminded about what I was going to tell him.

My eyes turn to my wrist, where the fabric from the trip to the mall is still tied around it. "Have I ever told you why I cover my clock?" I ask softly. Michael follows my gaze, and he shakes his head when he notices the scrap of fabric. "It's something I have only told Lydia, and it was only recently that I told her." I take a deep breath before removing the fabric. "It has always been at zero, Michael. That's why I had it covered. That's why I was so hurt when I caught you with that girl. Because I started to love you, and I wasn't worried about it because I had no Meeting. I had no one to look forward to."

The light that had disappeared from Michael's eyes starts to return, and I can tell what he's thinking. "I know that this is a bad time, but maybe...since we love each other and we're not soulmates by the Gods..."

"Michael," I say, cutting him off. "I know we love each other, but right now...I don't think that's an option. First off, your soulmate just died. Give her some respect and wait a reasonable amount of time before you try jumping into another relationship. Second off, you just ripped apart the trust I had for you. Just because you're now in a similar situation as mine doesn't mean I will break and immediately want to be with you again and trust you again."

He looks like a child being chastised. "I didn't think that you would want to jump into it right away. Like you said, we can work things out in time." He looks up, brown eyes pleading with me. "Please, just give it a chance, Mads."

I'm quiet for a few minutes as I think about the situation, whether I would go through with this. Whether I could trust him again. But when I look at his face, take in the features that I've come to know so well, I know that I must give him another chance. Not right now. Not tomorrow. Not in a week. But eventually. I love this man, and I should show him that I do.

"In time," I agree, reaching out and taking one of his hands in mine. "Now, it's two thirty in the morning. I would like to go back to bed. Go home and sleep, Michael. We both need it."

He hesitates. "Can I stay here? I need you right now." My shoulders slump. I really can't turn him away, not when he's like this. It hurts my heart to see him this way. "I can sleep on the futon, or the window seat."

I give in. "Fine. But only for tonight, okay? Just don't think that you can come crawling into my bed like everything is fine."

He nods, picking up Hemi and removing him from his lap. "I understand. I'll take the futon."

Monday comes along far too quickly, and I am sitting in the room for my first class of the day all too soon. I dread the coming day. Not because of the heart-wrenching events of this past weekend. Because I share many of my classes with Lydia. Michael, I can handle, mainly because we talked through things Friday night. But I am still not ready to see Lydia.

I shake my head, clearing those thoughts away, and bend down to grab a few things from my bookbag. Someone slides into the chair next to me. I look up and am shocked to see the girl that was in Michael's truck.

"I don't understand why the hell you got so bent out of shape when you caught Michael and I making out in his truck," she sneers, checking the paint on her nails like she didn't just verbally slap me in the face. She glances up at me, hazel eyes flaming. "You're not his soulmate, so why would you even care? You've got someone to look forward to. His died Friday night."

I cut her off with something close to a growl. "Don't you even dare try to use that against me. You have no idea what is going on between the two of us." Her eyes narrow. "And I don't think you'd be pleased to know that your boy toy came to me first. Friday night at two in the morning. I'm the one he goes to for shit like this, so don't try to rub it in my face, okay? You're nothing." The scowl that crosses her face makes a flash of pride buzz through me. "Michael may not be my soulmate, but he is mine. So, go be a whiny bitch for some other man that wants his dick wet."

I turn away from her and focus on the board, not missing the way her mouth drops open in complete and utter shock