Late one night, he rounded the corner to his apartment building and spotted Luis and Anthony sitting on the stoop.
“Good evening, Connor!” Luis was wearing a tacky jacket and holding an unlit cigar in his hand.
“Nice jacket.”
Luis beamed. “Why thank you, my good man.”
“You’re pretty hopped up this evening,” Connor retorted, reaching into his pocket for his keys.
“I received my first settlement check today. I’ve been thinking about moving. Perhaps a home in Santa Monica.”
“I hear it’s nice.”
Anthony snorted. “Only if you like those snobbish types.”
Luis twirled his cigar in the air. “I owe this all to Michelle, Connor. Where has she been? She’s a real tough lady, you know.”
Connor wasn’t going to answer the first question, so he forced a smile. “Yes, she is.”
* * * *
A few days later, he met Theodore at his office before they went for dinner.
“Connor, you’re turning into a hermit.”
“Thanks for noticing.”
“Now see, that’s just what I mean. You have to get over her.”
Connor shot him a look. “And you’re the expert right?”
“I’ve moved on.”
Connor wondered sometimes. “Have you?”
“Of course I have, but long time habits are hard to break.”
“Well, I’m going to move on, too. I’ll find someone new, settle down, maybe take up painting.”
Theodore shook his head. “I have to say that’s the biggest pile of—” His cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. “Yes, Mother… Certainly. I have it in my car… Well, I guess so, but I’m going out with Connor… Yes, we’re having dinner together… Yes, yes. Understand. We’ll be right there.” He put the phone back into his pocket. “She wants me to bring by the new candles for the new Feng Shui thing she has gotten into. Supposedly, these are quite hard to come by.”
Connor was intrigued. “Do I need to come with you?”
“She said she hasn’t seen you in ages.”
He looked straight ahead. Seeing his mother didn’t make him nervous any more. He’d been through worse and was still alive. Now he was just numb. “Let’s get this over with then.”
* * * *
The house was the same. Mother was the same.
“Connor Sakuma!”
“Hi, Mom.” He hugged her, a little tighter than usual.
“How have you been? Come sit down.”
She led the way to the family room. “You look as though you have lost weight? Would you like something to drink?”
“No thanks.” He surveyed the room; it hadn’t changed much in the past years. Oh, maybe there were a few new pictures of Theodore on the shrine. He walked over and started to count. Theodore fishing. Theodore’s graduation. Theodore…
And then, some new ones.
Of Connor.
Connor at the park. Connor in Michelle’s apartment. Connor at Gilroy’s Garden. He was smiling, all happy. Love did that to a person. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and it’d only been two months. Somewhere along the way, he had lost his life and Michelle as well. “Mom!”
“I’m right here, son. You don’t have to yell.”
He stared at himself at Gilroy’s Garden. He’d been looking at her when the photographer shot the picture. It was frightening to see so much love in his eyes. “Where did you get these?”
His mom moved to stand next to him. “Can’t you guess? From Michelle. She is such a sweet girl.”
Michelle must have cleaned off her shelves after the big split. One final, painful reminder that they had no future.
“When did you see her last?”
“Oh, it’s been ages now. She brought these over shortly after you two started seeing each other.”
His mom had to be wrong. Michelle wouldn’t have brought them over here then. “Are you certain it wasn’t more recent than that?”
“Well, of course I’m certain. I had to buy picture hangers because we were all out, and then as I was getting ready to pay, I ran into Iris Skirich, and her daughter-in-law was with her. She looked ready to deliver the baby that day. She was so pregnant, and little Gillian is…well, she must be about three months old by now. It was late May, early June, I’m positive.”
He looked up at the wall. There he was. Right next to Theodore. Never second place. Not with Michelle. “Are you certain?”
“Of course I am. Your father is the one that has the bad memory. Not me.”
He chuckled as his heart filled with hope. Michelle had done that for him. He really had messed up. Maybe it wasn’t too late.
“I love you, Mom.” He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
“I love you, too, Connor.” She followed him to the door. “Where are you going?”
“I have something I have to do.”
“Well, okay. Just make sure you eat something. You’re looking much too thin.”
* * * *
Michelle stared at her computer, finishing up the last of her notes on an investigation review. She glanced up at the clock—11:00 p.m. She hated the nights alone worst of all.
An insistent knock sounded on her door. The person on the other side sounded as if they had an emergency. Quickly, she went to the door and looked out the peephole, hoping no one was hurt.
“Michelle. Let me in.”
The sound of his voice made her tremble. “Connor?”
“Please.”
She needed to be strong. “Why?”
“Michelle, we need to talk.”
She leaned her head wearily against the door. “I don’t think I want to see you.”
“It’s important.” He sounded so urgent.
That just made her angry. “So important that it’s taken you over a month to think of it?”
“No, Michelle.” There was a long pause. “Michelle?”
“What?”
“I need to talk to you. I love you.”
“That’s not fair, Connor.”
“Will you let me in? Please?”
She removed the security chain off the door, absolutely refusing to get her hopes up. He burst through the door as soon as she unlocked it. “What’s going on, Connor? Why are you here?”
He motioned for her to sit down on the couch, his eyes animated. “To talk to you.”
“Go on then.”
“I think we should try again.”
Michelle couldn’t control the wild increase of her heartbeat. However, she was wiser now. “And with our successful track record, why do you think this time around will be better?” She closed her eyes. Praying for strength.
“I finally figured it out.”
That opened her eyes. “What?”
He started to pace around the room. As if there was a restless energy forcing him to move.
“Michelle, when I grew up, my parents measured a man by how much he made, how successful he was. A lot of people do that, me included. I figured you’d see me as second best and I couldn’t understand how you, who have your life so together, at your age, could ever be happy with someone like me, who at my age, doesn’t. For you, I wanted to be the best.” He knelt in front of her. “I owe you a major apology. You’re not like that.”
Hope was a marvelous thing, and she shook her head. “No, I’m not. You could have just asked me that.”
He took her hand. “I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“And you would believe it now?” she asked carefully.
When he smiled up at her, she already knew the answer. For the first time in his life, Connor Sakuma believed in himself.
“Yes. Michelle?”
The lump in her throat prevented her from speaking. She nodded.
“Will you marry me? I can’t live without you.”
“You’re certain about this?”
He looked so serious, so earnest, so in love. “Yes.”
It had bee
n so long since she had touched him. She got down on the floor next to him. “Good.”
“It’s not going to be easy.” He lowered his head.
“I know,” she answered, scooting closer.
“There will have to be a few compromises.” He kissed her neck. “And sacrifices.” He parted her robe.
She buried her hand in his hair while his lips played on her skin. “And negotiations.”
He eased her down to the carpet. “Second thing we do is repaint all the walls.”
“What is the first?”
His laugh was low and sultry. “Let me show you.”
The End
About the Author
Stephanie Morris resides in Fort Worth, Texas. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling, dancing, cooking, and spending time with her friends and family. In Stephanie’s opinion, there is nothing like curling up with a good book that you can’t put down, and she is addicted to writing them. Stephanie can be contacted through her website http://www.stephaniemorris.webs.com/ or via email at [email protected].
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