He wiped the lonely tear making its lonely way down her cheek, as she sunk her head lower towards her chest. The cold winter wind swirled around them, biting and sharp. She squeezed his hand tight, and rested her head on his shoulder, his warmth comforting her and distancing her, hurting her. He ran his fingers through her hair, her soft, silky, hair, strands of which were caressing his face which was resting on them. ‘I’m not dying you know… we just have to stop this. This is wrong. You’re in a wonderful, loving relationship with a wonderful, loving guy. Why would you want poor old me anyway?’ He joked, trying to cheer her up. ‘Not funny,’ she replied, looking at him with those full, round eyes, likes pools of ebony. The twinkle that normally lit them up was absent, and they were now like an unlit street – dark, deserted and empty.
The two broken hearts looked out onto the park that lay in front of them. The yellow street light that lit the streets caressing the pool of grass gave to it a certain, almost ethereal glow. ‘Another time,’ she whispered, as his fingers traced every line of her hand, and she closed her eyes and tried to capture this moment in time. Flashes of the past swam past her eyes, images of a love and a lover, and herself, torn between the two. She saw his face, a lover by accident, his face above hers, caressing her hair underneath the twinkling stars on a hot summer’s night. She saw their beings intertwined and she saw their spirits meet underneath the blur of a fast moving fan, she remembered stolen kisses behind a computer screen, urgent touches on the other side of a closed door; then her mind showed her the tender face of a love, an all-encompassing love that went beyond the realm of her carnal urges, a love that comforted her like an old blanket, that covered her like hot chocolate. Images of laughter flashed through her tired mind and of sun kissed skin on a winter’s day; she remembered the hours of being enthralled by their collective fingers, of her long journey’s into his eyes, she remembered the caresses to her skin, of the softness of his beside hers, the glow that always seemed to surround them when they were together. No, she couldn’t give that up. Could she?
His finger tracing her lips interrupted her thoughts, her lips instinctively planting a kiss on them as the rough, steady finger moved across them. Thoughts of love vanished as the finger continued down her face, down to her neck and made it’s way towards the dark recesses of her body, her breathing becoming shallower as it moved lower. He looked into her eyes only to be greeted by a melting pot of confusion and hesitation, want and desire. The contours of her body were light capped, turning her into a living picture, a beautiful chiaroscuro, a juxtaposition of light and darkness. He wanted to play with her, to play with her colours, to coat his fingers with her hands and toy with her mind. He knew he had to let her go, though he was loathe to even share her. He wanted to capture her being in his hand, to keep her all to himself. No, no one else had to know she was his, the mindless, driven cattle were best not informed of delicate details of his life. Society could go burn in hell for all he cared, people did not matter. But she did. She mattered, her mind mattered, her heart mattered. But he had to let her go, for both their sakes. Relationships failed, he knew that, and he didn’t dare jeopardize theirs by making it institutional. He sighed as her cold hand rested on his, stopping him.
Her phone beeped and told her she had a new message. It was a one line text. “I need you. Please call.” She looked up at him, her hair spread out on his lap like spilled ink, and smiled sadly. The words lay unspoken before them and he smiled wistfully back. ‘I know,’ he said. They both got up and dusted themselves off. The deserted park looking even more empty now, the stillness that they once revelled in now stifling them. He held her in his arms one last time before they parted ways, enveloping her in his warmth. She shut her mind off for a while and listened to his strong heart beat, and for a while, felt like there was nothing in the world except them. Her phone buzzed, and she reluctantly let go. The picture that flashed on her screen made her smile, and the regret she had washed away from her heart. He looked at her face as it lit up and smiled. It was over.