The Purest of Hearts: Part One

Chapter Fourteen

MichaelxSean

'It's destiny.'

'And I want you to take responsibility.'

'I think you can learn to love me!'

~~~~

At this point, I'll admit and acknowledge his ardor. I think as I walk from my car through the structure parking lot of my apartment.

He sure has ardor.

As I walk up to the third floor, I see a brunette standing by my door to the apartment. She turns and I'm genuinely shocked.

"Oh, good you're here." Reina looks all business with her blazer and pencil skirt. Her hairs down which is a nice change to her usual messy bun. "I could have sworn I left my travel bag here."

"I think it's in one of the closets. I'll let you go look for it," I say and open the dark apartment up for her. When she enters, she stops and looks around.

"I'm surprised that it's still as I left it when I moved out," she says and I shrug. I plop on my desk chair as she rummages through the closet. I pull out a students thesis paper and begin to read.

"You know ... you know I loved you once." She has her back to me and I sigh.

"Yeah, says the one who found a lover then left me." I reply with a snark tone.

"As smart as you are, I'm sure you know this without me having to tell you," she says after some silence, "but I'd really preferred it if you told me you hated me."

"At least then I knew you felt something about what I did." She continues. "But the fact that you didn't show any emotions ... well I guess it was safe to assume you never were interested in me to even hate me."

I can't say anything or else I'd be lying. Partially. I hear her footsteps announce that she's leaving and when I hear the door shut, I get up and walk to the dresser where I keep my notebooks and pens. I flip open the brown, leather bound notebook and open up to the page where that photo sits.

The photo of my teacher and I almost twenty years ago. It was winter when one of my classmates took it and I had long hair back then. Back then ... before her illness took her completely, she was happy and carefree. I was at my peak of happiness then even though I never showed it.

After her death, it wasn't that I wasn't interested in anyone or anything. It was that I didn't try ... don't try to be interested. Because realistically, a love and romance that lasts for eternity can't possibly exist. You eventually have to part and it's inevitable.

When you've lost something, you look for something similar, find closure, and recover. But I've never been so forward-looking. Having said that, I won't permit myself to be trapped in the past. That's why I don't have those thoughts to begin with.

"I'm back." A bland voice catches me by surprise and I instantly shut the book and shove it in the drawer.

"Oh! Hello, hello!" I laugh and scratch the back of my neck. "You're back early aren't you?"

"Sorry I made a mess in the living room, I'll go clear it out and leave." I hurry to the door past him.

"Why are you leaving? It's your house." He replies matter of factly.

"It's ok ..." I trail off.

"I studied up on cooking so this time you won't have to worry about it tasting terrible." He shows me a ripped out page from a cook book.

"Did you steal a page from a book?" I ask bewildered and he folds his arms.

"I didn't have time to memorize the damn page." He huffs and my eyebrows furrow.