Sixteen Our Time Together

Happy Birthday

Charlie Goodman turned 32 today. He was taller, stronger and of course older than the time he first met Grace. He had a beautiful fiancé he loved and a job at an advertising agency he enjoyed working at. After graduating high school he moved back to his country and city he was born in, where hardly anybody knew him. He found things easier here in the city where there were too many people and also spoke in the same accent. He wasn't seen as the boy who lost his only friend with the name called 'Death' behind his back. Nobody knew.

He woke up in his bed beside his fiancé, Cassandra, covered under the duvets hiding her naked body. He removed a strand of her long blonde hair that covered her face with his long fingers and placed it behind her ears watching her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open and stared into his eyes dark blue eyes. "Happy Birthday."She whispered. Her lips curved up and she moved closer to him and they kissed slowly. Charlie could smell a faint scent of her sweet perfume and her soft smooth skin pressing against his chest. Her fingers brushed down his hair and from the sudden shock he broke the kiss taking in a deep breath.
"You're alright?" Cassandra asked quietly trying to calm him down as she watched him breathe like he was drowning in the rough tide of the ocean.
"Yeah." Charlie finally choked out. His eyes still held the trauma from his past. Cassandra felt his heart beat fast and unsteadily. "Did you remember something horrible?" She touched his face softly but saw his eyes deadly wide open. He took deep breathes in and out, taking his time. He looked down at Cassandra with his same sweet smile. "No" he lied.

7:50 am 24th January 2017, Friday

He stepped out of his apartment dressed reasonably warm in the snow with his white sweater and his favourite black duffle coat. He was especially impressed with his winter suit pants that were extremely warm but didn't look baggy on him. He stepped into the elevator pressing the button to the car park below. As the door was about to close, Cassandra rushed down in her pin high heels uncomfortably, jamming her hand in between the doors. The door opened and he saw her frustrated and puffed out. "Couldn't you have waited for me?" She said under her breath as she awkwardly walked into the elevator. "You could've taken the next elevator? Or the stairs. I would've waited for you in the car anyway." He said tiredly leaning his weight on the mirrors looking deadly in front of him as the elevator elevated down. "Is it a bad thing for me to be wanting to be close by my fiance?" She emphasised the word 'fiance' as she adjusted herself in her heels. "What are you going to do today? Leaving your girlfriend on your birthday?" She asked out of irritation. He kept his eyes out to nowhere and ignored her question, knowing it was something that fell out of her mouth, out of a mind that couldn't think straight in the moment of anxiety. But even if he told himself that, he still felt a pain in his heart. A numb but stabbing pain.  "I'm sorry. I'm being rude and stupid like a kid." She regretted. "Please don't get mad. I love you. You know that right?" She asked begging, gripping his arm tight with both of her hands that her long bright red painted nails made a print on his coat. "I know." He didn't look at her. He indeed knew that she told a lie. He loved her and she loved him too. But he knew ever since they had been engaged, they spent less time together.

Charlie drove into the city through the same roads and streets like he has for the past ten years. The city looked dull with the heavy snow that blanketed the whole city. He remembered about the weather forecast that snow would be covering up the streets as it would be snowing all week.  He was worried if snow would affect Cassandra's emotional controls. He had heard that rain could affect the mood. The heavy snow with the cold climate outside only gave him bad vibes.

He dropped Cassandra off at the front entrance of the building where already snow boots were in need though it had only started to snow yesterday.  He parked his car in the parklot under the building in the furtherest spot from the exit. After turning the engine off, he fell heavily into his leather seat, and hit his head against the ice cold window. He quietly remembered about the time when he truly understood that Grace Fairfield was no longer alive.