-Lylah-
I reached for the book, hardly containing the smile on my face, for the very first time I was seeing my own writing on a shelf, nothing could have made me happier than physically finding it in a bookstore, especially here in my favorite one in Sunny Bay. Another hand bumped into mine, I turned to face the most beautiful woman I had ever encountered.
“Here you go, ” I smiled as I handed her the book, hardly believing that someone was buying my story.
“Oh thank you. My friend recommended it to me, she said it was one of the best books she’d ever read. » Replied the woman.
« I quite liked it myself, I hope you do too. Are you new here, or passing by ? I’ve never seen you in SunnyBay. »
” I just moved here yesterday , I’m Cate.”
I shook her hand and introduced myself in return, hoping she wouldn’t open the book while I was here, my picture was inside and for some reason I was feeling really nervous about her knowing that she was holding my book. Her friend said it was one of the best she’d read, but what if she didn’t like it ? For some reason I felt the need to impress this woman I had just met a second ago.
I agreed to show her around town the next day and she walked out, leaving me stunned as I recalled her face. She was exactly how I portrayed my character Catherine in my next story, who also goes by Cate.
* * *
I met Cate in front of the bookstore around two, she was waiting for me with a huge smile on her face : “Hi! You didn’t tell me it was your book !” She exclaimed as she waved, I instantly felt my cheeks burning up and I looked to the ground:
” Did you- did you like it ?” I shyly looked at her, hoping she wouldn’t try to lie because she actually hated it.
“Are you kidding? I absolutely loved it! I stayed up most of the night to finish it, it was amazing, really. I’m sorry, I’m fangirling a bit over here, I really loved it.” She replied with a smile, a huge, flashing smile, making me even happier than yesterday when she picked up the book.
“Oh … Well thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it, it means a lot. ” I said as I offered to sign it, which she gladly accepted.
We went to the cliff, the trail was beautiful, bordered by wild flowers and bushes, it offered the most breathtaking sights all year round.
“This is beautiful Lylah, is it the place Lauren describes at the end of the story ? ” Whispered Cate as to not trouble the peace emanating from the view.
I nodded and sat down on the flat stone : ” Yeah it is, I’ve always loved this place, and I know Lauren would too.”
“I know you must be tired of questions about your book but can I ask one more please ?”
“Of course, I don’t think I could be tired of it.” I replied with a smile. Truth is, I could talk about my stories all day as long as someone is willing to listen.
” Is there anything real? some anecdotes just felt so real.”
“Most of them are so that would be why,” I smiled and continued, ” most people don’t know that but Lauren is widely inspired by myself. The story between Lauren, Dawson and Julia actually happened, although not exactly that way.”
Cate looked at me wide-eyed: “Really? And you’re Lauren in this story? How did it end ? Lauren never said.”
I gave her a slight smile: “that’s because I didn’t know the end when I wrote it, but I do now and it’s not book worthy . ”
she looked at me but didn’t ask out loud what I knew she wanted to ask.
“Would you like to know anyway ? ”
Cate nodded and turned to me awaiting for the story .
” As you know, Lauren, Julia and Dawson all went to school together and later in life worked together. Julia was close friend with both of them, yet Lauren and Dawson hated each others, especially Dawson. Despite being younger by a couple years, Lauren was undoubtedly better at everything, Dawson was a close second and it was never enough for him, now Lauren wasn’t one to brag or anything but still he just couldn’t stand her. Although there was one thing he had that Lauren didn’t, Julia. As these two dated Dawson finally felt superior to his nemesis, it didn’t last though, Julia left him to date Lauren and Dawson went on hating her even more than before, once again she had surpassed him.” I stopped for a bit to think, did I really want to tell a perfect stranger, even though it felt like I’d known her forever, the miserable end to this story.
” This is where you stopped in the book, what happens next ?”
I sighed and looked at the horizon “Julia added water to the grease fire between Dawson and Lauren and then, she got tired of me and broke my heart. Now Sawyer, well Dawson, hates me even more because I stole her for no reason since I didn’t want her. The truth is that she’s a manipulative bitch and has made my life hell whenever she or Sawer is around.”
I laughed a little and turned to Cate : “See ? It’s not book worthy.”
” I’m sorry, she does sound like a bitch ” she smiled and we went on to talk about other things, I invited Cate to the end of summer party on the main beach this Saturday, not as my date but simply because she’s my friend and doesn’t know anyone in SunnyBay, although I did hope she’d dance with me at some point.
She agreed to come and we went on about our walk, chatting about nothing and everything, I found myself quite fond of her company.
” How old are you ? ” Asked Cate out of the blue, “I’m pretty sure you’re younger than me but it felt wrong to google you .”
” Thanks, I’m twenty , will turn twenty one in January, what about you ? ” I asked in return praying that she wouldn’t answer twenty-eight like Catherine. But she did.
“when’s your birthday ? ”
“May, the twenty-fourth. ” She replied, stopping me dead in my tracks, she had the same birthday I had given Catherine, my Catherine .
“Are you okay ?”
I shook my head, “yeah, yeah, I just remembered about a work thing.”
It must be a coincidence, another one, but it was one too many, what else could they have in common ? How did I summon such a resembling character ?
“Cate ? Is your favorite color lilac ?”
She gave me a puzzling look: “It is actually, how did you know that ?”
I shrugged and tried to stay calm, yet it was once again another thing in common between Cate and Catherine.
“Is Cate a nickname ? Lylah’s a nickname …”
“What for ?”
“Lysabeth Lanadelia, first syllable of each name. ”
“That’s nice, and your name sounds like a princess name, Cate’s short for Catherine.”
This time I turned to her, ” you’re kidding right ? ”
She looked at me confused: “no i’m not, why would I be? Is everything okay?”
I nodded and ignored her question, how could she be so close to my character? Both are named Catherine but shorten it to Cate, I could swear they are the same person. Except it’s not possible, they cannot be the same person, because I invented Catherine.
I felt her shoulder nudging mine: “Lylah what’s going on? Is Catherine a name so ugly that it got you all quiet ? ”
She laughed a little but I could tell she was uncomfortable.
“No of course not, Catherine is actually one of my favorite names. No, sorry I just lost myself in my thoughts a little. Work has been quite busy these past weeks that’s all.” I shrugged, knowing my explanation wasn’t so great, but Cate and I weren’t close enough for her to question it.
“Oh, alright, I’m sorry to be bothering you today”. Replied Cate, seemingly sad and embarrassed.
“oh no, not at all ! I’m sorry if I gave you this impression, I invited you Cate, because I wanted to. I’m glad you’re here, and it’s nice to have a break.” I gave her a huge smile to which she blushed a little.
“you’re right this is nice. What’s wrong then ?”
I couldn’t tell her the truth, she’d think I’m insane and would immediately leave. But she wouldn’t take no for an answer so instead I told her something about the pressure they put on me at work, which wasn’t a lie either .
” What do you do for work ? ”
” I’m a scientist, I work in medical research and development, writing is just on the side for now. What about you ? ” I asked in return, although part of me already knew the answer before the words left her lips.
“I’m an English teacher in highschool .”
Here it was, just as Catherine. I couldn’t explain it just yet but somehow I hadn’t written about an invented character, I had written about a real person. My character, Catherine was Cate Simmons, the woman I had met yesterday. The very real woman, walking right beside me.
“Alright, spill it, ” Said Cate as she stopped on the trail, “you get quiet whenever I tell you something about myself, and you question every single one of my answers as if they were wrong or something. So what is it Lylah? Is being a teacher too lame or something ?” She asked, very upset as she turned back and left. I didn’t stop her, what would I say? “Sorry I’m freaked out because you’re my next book character.” she’d definitely think I’ve lost it.
So I went home, I called Leigh, my assistant, to tell her she could take the evening as I wouldn’t go to work today.
Instead I sat on the floor in my room and took all the papers and notes related to my next book, I wanted to make a list of everything I knew about my Catherine:
– She’s twenty eight years old and born on May twenty four.
– Her favorite color is lilac but not to wear.
– She’s an high school english teacher.
-She shortens her name to Cate.
– She doesn’t label herself but mostly likes and dates women.
-She hates math and science because she’s always been bad at it, but she doesn’t mind hearing about it as long as the person is passionate.
– She loves to read and every genre, except biographies, although autobiographies are alright but definitely not a favorite.
– She is always on time, always. No actually she’s always early, because being on time is already being late for her.
-She loves to watch christmas movies with Juliet, the main character.
-She is passionate about her job.
And that was pretty much all I had, the book wasn’t finished yet, but so far Cate checked all the boxes. Although I wasn’t sure about the movies, but she seemed like she wouldn’t mind watching some while cuddling, after all she had moved to SunnyBay.
God it took me barely more than an hour to mess it all up with her, good job me.
Let’s hope she still comes to the party on Saturday so that maybe I can apologize, I definitely needed to do so. But what could I say ? I didn’t know what to tell her without lying or her freaking out completely.
After an entire night of deliberation I did reach a conclusion, I needed to show her my book, I wasn’t sure how just yet but I had to, I hated knowing she was upset and that I had hurt her feelings. She thought I had called her a loser, that I had looked down on her and thought I was so much better. It wasn’t true, not even remotely, truth is I had been scared by all she said, because I knew in my heart every answer before she said it, because I felt so drawn to her, so connected.
I immediately felt it, as soon as our hands touched in the bookstore, before I even looked at Cate, I knew.
Somehow I hadn’t invented Catherine, I had channeled her .
***
It’s completely exhausted that I drove myself to work, the book in my bag, I needed advice and I needed to figure it out and understand.
“Can you get some coffee please ? ” I asked Leigh as I sat down at my desk , “I pulled an all nighter and I need your opinion on something.”
“You want my opinion ? Are you sure ? ” Asked Leigh with a huge grin on her face.
I sighed, “no, but I need to ask someone and you’re here so …”
She sat down and handed me a cup, gesturing for me to go on.
“I met a girl, and I’m freaking out.”
“That’s it, a girl ? Do you like her ?”
I nodded and took the unachieved manuscript out of my bag, “I do, although I can’t explain why just yet. But it’s more complicated than this Leigh. You’ve seen me write this book right? It’s my next one, I’m supposed to send a final draft to Dana after new year’s eve. ”
“Yeah, on a bright note, right? I’m not sure where you’re going with this tough.”
“I’m getting to it, just keep an open mind okay? So one of my main characters in on a bright note, is named Catherine Simmons, she’s an high school english teacher, and I can’t explain how but she’s the woman I met the other day .”
” You’re kidding right ?”
“Do I look like it ? Listen, they have the same name, the same birthdate, the same nickname, same job and favorite color, they look the exact same Leigh. I know it’s crazy, I do. But I’m sure I’m right, I can feel it. I felt it when we met and again when I saw her yesterday.”
“Oh, well you know everything has a scientific explanation so we’ll figure it out, or we might not, maybe it’s not the time to unravel such a mystery, every science has its time. It’s not because we can’t explain or understand something that it’s not real or that it’s crazy.” Explained Leigh, very wisely.
I knew she was right but it didn’t keep me from freaking out right now.
“Although in your case there’s an explanation I can think of, you’re not going to like it, but it does make some sense when you think about it.”
“What is it then ? ”
“Soulmate, she’s your soulmate Lylah”
“Nope, ” I stood up to go into the lab, “I’m gonna stop you right there. I don’t have time for this, some of us have actual work to do.”
“Told you you wouldn’t like it.” Called out my assistant, still sitting at my desk instead of actually assisting me.
“Are you coming? We’ve got some work to do, I wanna test out the new memory inducing drug before submitting it, we need to know what it’s worth.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea Doc? It might trigger some unpleasant memories.”
” I’m counting on it, it will mean that it’s working, reliving memories can and will be painful, I know that, but it could also be the key to solving many cases and saving many lives. That’s the goal here. Come on let’s prep.”
I prepped an IV drip for the drug while Leigh prepped me, sticking electrodes all over my head to scan my brain and overall just make sure I don’t die.
” Alright you can lie down, are you ready ? ”
I shook my head negatively, “do it.”
The next twenty minutes were some of the most painful in my life, I relieved memories I had buried deep into my mind, the first time I got shot, by my own mother. The day Victoria died and the funeral, the months after spent drowning myself into work, killing myself slowly as I went down the rabbit hole.
Thankfully Leigh’s voice was with me at all times, she was grounding me, asking me questions, trying her best to keep me calm. As soon as I pulled myself out I threw up on the floor, my head was throbbing and my heart pounding, my entire body aching. I felt a hand on my back and swallowed down the water Leigh gave me, only then realizing I had been crying the whole time.
” Are you alright ?”
“Yeah I think so, although I do have a huge headache, and my heart was beating way too fast just a second ago, also my body is really sore like after a huge workout. But I’ll be fine, nothing I can’t handle .”
“you know that’s not what I meant, how are you really?”
“It was hard, reliving all of this again, it felt real, but I’ll be alright, although I might not sleep much tonight, but I’ll be fine . Although trying to distract myself from my current problem by reliving old ones would definitely make my therapist cringe.”
I got up and helped Leigh clean up, “We know it’s working, well the first phase does at least. Now I just need to find a way to guide whoever is taking a trip down memory lane to access exactly what we want instead of random memories . ”
” I’m sure you’ll figure it out Doc, they didn’t put you on this project for nothing.”
” I’m aware of this, it would have been useless. ” I replied, knowing it would annoy her, it always did when I pretended to not understand figures of speech.
She rolled her eyes and finished cleaning up.
” I should go see Cate and apologize, I can’t tell her the truth but I should try to make it right, I really hurt her feelings and I don’t like that .”
“You could have reached this conclusion without testing, you weren’t in the right headspace to do so Lylah.”
I shrugged, knowing that she was right even though I would never admit it.
“Maybe just try to hide everything you know about her so far. Do you even know where she lives ?” Continued Leigh.
“South Beach cottage, it has to be, it was the only empty house in town and was sold a month ago, but I can always check real quick.”
“She’s already mad at you, hacking her personal records might not be the best right now.”
“Smart, I ‘ll just go and see.”
I finished my first phase’s preliminary report and made sure everything had been recorded correctly before I left.
-Cate-
I turned around and walked away, without a last glance to my newfound friend, or so I thought. Nothing I could think of explained Lylah’s behavior, she seemed to question every single one of my answers despite being the one who asked.
she had guessed my favorite color on the first try, didn’t even hesitate, she didn’t believe me when I told her my birthdate, how weird is that.
What was wrong with her, was I so average that it shocked her ? Or did she think of herself as so much better than me because at just twenty she was a research scientist and I was a simple english teacher despite being older by eight years? Maybe that’s what happened, I was too boring for her, but if that had been the case she didn’t need to be so rude about it.
The thing is, Lylah didn’t strike me as someone who would be this condescending, who would think of herself as above everyone else just because of a phd, or who would be rude to anyone. No, she actually struck me as the exact opposite, she seemed very kind and sweet, and I’m sure she is, which is why I cannot understand why she acted the way she did. But maybe a couple of hours isn’t enough to know someone.
When I got home, the first thing I noticed was Lylah’s book on the kitchen island, I absolutely loved this book, all the anecdotes and short stories which intertwined to show the path of life of a young woman and her journey of self discovery and identity from her early teenage years to her mid-twenties, her name is Lauren, but I now know that it’s Lylah.
I picked the book up and wondered, which of these stories had really happened to her?
She had told me at the cliff that many things in her book had been inspired by her own life experience, the story with Dawson and Julia was real and ended quite badly from what she told me. I started reading again, trying to guess which ones were about Lylah’s life and which were simply fiction. I was a couple pages in when one called out to me : Lauren and her friend Anna had snuck into a gigantic high school party in Los Angeles, they were thirteen but easily passed as fifteen. That’s where Lauren met her first girlfriend, they stayed together for a couple weeks only because Lauren couldn’t stand teenagers despite just becoming one, especially someone who thought books we’re only school assignments or for nerds. I remembered one of my high school boyfriends who thought I was a freak because I actually enjoyed writing essays or analyzing poems. I had dumped him really fast and completely understood Lauren. Nevertheless it was important for her, it was her first real kiss and the realization of her sexuality, it was the beginning of the book.
Something, I wasn’t quite sure what, was telling me that this one was entirely true, the only fictional things were the names. I don’t know how I knew it, I just did.
***
I was making dinner when the doorbell rang, annoyed and unsure of who it was I opened the door, only to find Lylah standing there, looking quite embarrassed.
” Um hi, ” she started, barely looking at me, her body language told me she was feeling bad, ” I wanted to apologize for yesterday, I know I made you feel bad and I’m really sorry, it wasn’t my intention.” Said Lylah, finally looking up at me, the urge to kiss her came over me, as sudden and unexpected as a cold shower. I pushed that thought far away in a corner of my brain and invited her in.
” You did hurt me, and I could see it was not intentional, but what happened then ? ” I poured her a glass and we sat at the island, she was fidgeting with the glass but it was the only sign of her nervousness, her face was perfectly calm.
” I don’t know, I had a lot on my mind and I was under a lot of pressure, and nervous. Which I know isn’t an excuse, but in all honesty, I don’t have any other. I just kinda took it all out on you and I’m sorry.”
I knew she was being sincere, somehow I could just feel it, but I could also feel that there was something she was not telling me.
” Under a lot of pressure ? At work or in life in general ?” I wanted the truth but I couldn’t just bluntly ask.
” Both, my work is pretty much my life so … I had an internal meeting with my boss earlier that day during which they would decide if I was suspended or not. Oh no don’t make that face please, I did nothing wrong I swear, it’s health related. The meeting was to check on how I’ve been doing since I came back to work a couple months ago and decide whether I should take another medical leave or not. I was stressed because I didn’t want to stop working, and when we saw each other I didn’t have the verdict yet.” Explained Lylah, still as composed as earlier, I couldn’t read any emotions on her face and it was quite unsettling.
“And do you have to stop working ?”
Lylah simply nodded and took a sip from her drink. Without even realizing I had forgiven her, I was glad she was here, although I still felt she was hiding something but I also felt she would tell me once she was ready.
So we decided to put everything behind us and I invited her for dinner. The urge to kiss her whenever our eyes met was still lingering in the back of my head but I ignored it. Why would I want to kiss an almost stranger ? It didn’t make any sense, plus it was incredibly creepy on my part.
We talked a lot and she asked me many questions about everything, she was genuinely interested and listening this time, but politely avoided pretty much any question about herself.
“Can i ask you a question ? One that you will answer this time ?”
“I’ll do my best.” Replied Lylah.
“I’m not asking you to tell me the truth about yesterday afternoon, but I’d like to know why you told me something else instead.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“That’s not what I said, please just answer.”
She sighed and turned to me, “What I told you was part of the truth, I really am under a lot of pressure. But if I didn’t tell you the second part of the truth it’s because I’m not sure of it myself, and I wouldn’t want to lie or mislead you. But I’ll tell you one day, promise.”
Once again without any reason to do so, I believed her.
“Thank you. Why are you getting suspended ?” I couldn’t help but be curious, she knew so much about me already and I so little.
“You said one question, Cate.” Replied Lylah with a little smile. I simply smiled back, it had become clear that I wouldn’t get anything more out of her tonight.
“Do you play ?” She asked, pointing at the piano.
I shook my head. It was my grandmother’s and I had never learned.
Lylah got up and asked if she could play. It sounded absolutely beautiful, a song I was sure I had never heard, but knew nonetheless.
“It’s beautiful Lylah.”
” Thank you, I wrote it.”
I couldn’t believe the words that came out of her mouth, how could I know this song if it was hers ?
“Really ?”
“Yes, why ? Is it so hard to believe ?”
“No sorry I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just that I feel like I know this song.”
Lylah smiled, with that gorgeous smile of hers and sat back next to me.
“Can you come over tomorrow, I’d like to show you something,” She started, “in the morning if that’s okay, I have to file some paperwork at the office in the afternoon.”
I agreed, happy to spend some more time with her but also intrigued. All she accepted to say was that it had something to do with yesterday afternoon.
And with these last words she left, even more questions in my head than before.
-Lylah-
I woke up really nervous, even more than the day of my first thesis presentation. Today, in a couple of hours, Cate would come here and I’d show her the book. She would probably think I was crazy, but after last night I was almost entirely sure that she felt it too, whatever “it” was.
The way she looked at me and her reaction when I played the piano confirmed to me that she too felt inexplicably drawn to me, as I did to her.
At exactly ten o’clock the doorbell rang, Cate was perfectly on time, yet another thing in common with my Catherine.
“Good morning ! You said you had something to show me ?” She seemed both nervous and excited.
“Yes, yes I do. Do you prefer coffee or tea ?” I asked, although the kettle was already on because quite unsurprisingly she chose tea, like Catherine.
I poured her a cup and went to get the box with all my notes.
“What’s this ?”
“Notes and scenes from a book I’ve been writing these past months, all dated from about four months ago, and I promise I didn’t meddle with the dates.”
“Okay and ? I mean I’m happy that you wrote another book but I’m not sure why you wanted to show it to me or what it has to do with the other day.”
“Just wait you’ll understand soon, please don’t freak out okay ? Because that’s exactly what I did and see where that took us.”
“Lylah what’s going on ? You’re starting to worry me.”
I took out a couple of pages from the pile, the oldest ones and handed them to her : “These are from my first draft, my trash draft sort of, they’re a bunch of quick scenes with lots of details and description so that later on when I edit the story I know everything there is to know about the atmosphere, the scene, or in this case the characters. Please read them and you’ll understand why I acted the way I did.”
Cate silently skimmed the pages, confusion washing over her face : “is this some kind of joke ?”
I shook my head and looked at her, “I promise you it’s not Cate, that’s why I acted so strangely, because the more I got to know you, the more similar to my Catherine you were. At first I thought it was a funny coincidence, you looked exactly how I portrayed my character in my head, but blondes with green eyes aren’t that rare. Then you said your name was Cate, it was odd but yet another coincidence, what else could it be ? We talked and everything you said I had already written months ago, it freaked me out because somehow you were my Cate.”
She stayed silent for a while, taking it all in, “You do realize how it sounds right ?”
“Yes, yes I do, believe me I thought I was going crazy, but facts don’t lie. And deep down you know I don’t either, don’t you ?”
Once again Cate fell silent but she nodded, as bizarre as it was there was indeed a connection that united the both of us, an invisible link neither of us could explain nor deny.
“But how ?”
“I don’t know, I’ve been thinking about it but I have nothing, there is a scientific explanation I just haven’t found it yet.”
“How can you be so sure ?” Cate seemed as worried as she was fascinated.
“Because there is an explanation for everything, but they come in their own time so we might never understand what’s happening to us, even though in a few centuries it might be completely normal.”
“I’m not sure I’m following you.”
I sat next to her and began my explanation, ” Centuries ago, the Mayans didn’t know that an eclipse is merely the moon passing in front of the sun, they thought the sun was being eaten by a demon. Eclipses were signs of destruction and the end of worlds. Yet, there was a perfectly reasonable explanation behind it all, only it wasn’t the right time and they couldn’t have even imagined it. But now, they’re perfectly normal although quite rare, and people aren’t afraid of them anymore. ”
Cate accepted my reasoning, it was the best we had for now and most likely the best we’d ever have.
“If I’m Catherine, would that make you Juliet ? From the story ?”
I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks and avoided her gaze, Cate didn’t know yet that the two characters would be in a relationship. I wouldn’t mind being Juliet, but the fact is that I wasn’t.
“No, we barely have anything in common, she’s a high school student, a cheerleader, that’s not exactly me.”
“Well you have me in common.”
“Yeah about that, Catherine and Juliet are dating, they just haven’t met yet in the scenes you read.”
Cate slightly blushed and asked if she could read the rest sometimes, I agreed to it, after all the story was about her.
I quickly changed the subject before it became awkward, “Are you still coming to the beach dance this saturday ?”
“I’d love to, if you still want me to come.”
Of course I wanted her to come, and even hoped that we might share a dance. I said I wouldn’t lie to her but I did when I said Juliet and I had nothing in common, because we had one thing, our feelings for Cate.
These feelings felt so out of place as of now because we barely knew each other, yet so right at the same time because it felt as if I had known her forever.
***
On Saturday evening I walked to Cate’s cottage, moments away from the sun going down.
“Wow you- um you look great.” Cate was blushing, which made her even more adorable than she already was. I took a moment to take in her outfit, she was wearing a long flowery summer dress whose green accent brought out her sparkling eyes.
“Thank you, so do you.” I replied with a smile, and Cate blushed even more, making me wonder if she felt as nervous as I did. It wasn’t a date yet it felt as if.
We went by the cliff again, it was a longer path to the main beach but she hadn’t enjoyed it fully last time, because of me. The sun was about to set and there was no better place to watch it than from the very top of the cliff behind my house. We sat on the flat stone once again, but this time I wasn’t scared, Cate knew the truth and felt as drawn to me as I did to her.
Neither of us dared speaking, we simply lost ourselves in the view, our shoulders pressing against each other. The world was silent around us, as if we were its last inhabitants, being alone together under the fiery sky made our bond even stronger, even more present, as if it had wrapped itself around us.
Cate felt it too and, without even realizing she held my hand and I held it back, drawing a smile on her face but still not taking her eyes off the sky where the fire was slowly extinguishing.
Not letting go of her soft and warm hand I leaned on her shoulder, maybe it didn’t matter whether we understood or not.
Maybe, we could just love each other and that would be enough.
– The end.
Story Shared by:josephine