Political Relations (Book I of the BWWM Political Series)

The Last Night

Oliver prepared to go over to Lucille's place. Well he prepared as much as he could anyway. He wasn't anywhere near being ready to say goodbye to Lucille but he could not in good conscious ask her to stay.

He loved her so he wanted her to pursue her dreams. That's one of the things that made him fall so deeply in love with her. He grabbed her gift from his desk drawer and headed out.

The ride to her apartment was daunting. He was nervous and scared but also excited. The gift he had for her was special to him and he was worried she wouldn't accept it.

He could see the apartment complex up ahead. When the car came to a stop he got out but stood still for a moment.

"Now or never."

He walked up to her door and knocked firmly. On the other side of the door, Lucille had done a bit of prepping on her own as well.

She had taken a long bath, moisturized her entire body with coconut oil, and dressed in a scanty red lingerie. She had been saving it for a special occasion. She thought they had more time. But this was it.

She examined herself in the mirror. The lingerie fit her slim figure as if it was made just for her. It complimented her skin as well.

The knock on the door startled her. She threw on her silk robe and tied it tightly and then went to open the front door.

Oliver smiled, but it never reached his sad, blue eyes.  Lucille wasn't ignorant to this. But nevertheless she greeted him cheerfully, "Oliver, please come in."

She shut the door behind them. "I'm gonna open some wine. Red or white?", she asked.

"Whatever is fine", he answered, taking a seat on the sofa.

"How was your birthday party?", he asked.

"It was great," Lucille replied from the kitchen. If he could see into the kitchen, to see her face, he would know that was a lie.

"That's good to hear", Oliver answered, unbeknownst of the circus it actually was.

Lucille joined Oliver on the sofa with two glasses of wine. She handed a glass to him and then took a sip of hers. He did the same.

"Before anything else, there's something I really want you to have", Oliver said as he placed his glass of wine on the coffee table.

He pulled the red velvet box from his pocket and just eyed it for a moment.

When he opened it, Lucille's eyes widened. It was a necklace with a pendant attached. It was a diamond heart lined with rose gold. It must've cost a fortune.

Lucille was about to speak but Oliver cut in.

"Before you say anything, listen to me", he said. "When I was 12 years old, my grandmother passed away from breast cancer. I was really close with her and I still miss her every day. Before she died, she gave me this pendant and I'll never forget what she said to me", he smiled down at the box in his hand. "She said 'Give this to your only true love. We only get one true love in life so you have to make sure you're right. Your one true love won't be one you go looking for but you will know when you've found her."

Lucille became teary eyed before Oliver could even finish.

"I never gave this to my wife for obvious reasons, but if I'm going to keep the promise I made to my grandmother, there's no doubt in my mind you should have this pendant."

"Oliver I don't even know what to say", she barely uttered. "I don't know if I can accept this."

"This isn't me trying to bind you to myself or anything like that. I know what you mean to me no matter how far away you'll be even if you move on, I'll still love you. So I want you to have this."

Lucille nodded, "okay."

Oliver smiled and removed the necklace from its box. Lucille turned around. She was smiling ear to ear as Oliver clasped the necklace on her neck.

"Happy Birthday, Lucille."

In one swift motion she turned around and landed a soft kiss on his lips. As their kiss deepened, she raked through his unkempt hair with her fingers.

"I'm not ready to say goodbye", she said against his lips.

But she knew she had to.

He used his finger tip to wipe away a few tears falling from her eyes.

"What's meant to be will be", he said.

Neither of them vocalized it but they knew it had to end here. This had to be their last night together. If not, Lucille would never leave and that couldn't happen.

So after this night, it was goodbye...

For now.