Sixteen Our Time Together

Cassandra

It's been sixteen years. He repeated in his head as he sat at his desk. He looked up at clock on the wall that echoed deafeningly in his ears since that day. He sighed that it was still only 11:59 am, and the day went slower each day. "Stop checking the clock every minute." He heard from the desk in front. "Sorry." He replied and laid his fingers on the keyboard. He tried to concentrate, staring at his computer screen but he saw the reflection of himself, unshaven hair around his mouth and the small wrinkles around his eyes. Every year. He always had the feeling but passing his thirties he realized that every year when this day comes, he felt that he was sixteen again. When everything seemed all fine. The reason why he felt a little out of place when he saw his face.

"Don't worry. " he felt a sudden firm grip on his shoulders and saw David look back at him through the reflection of the screen. "You don't look that old." He said as if he read his mind. "Telepath?" Charlie asked back jokingly and spun around in his wheelie chair. "You do the same thing every year. Since the first year of College." "It'd be helpful if you guys worked as much as you deserve your hourly payment." Another voice joined from ahead. "Oh, come on John. It's 12pm, lunch time okay?" David said as he leaned back in his chair putting his hands behind his head. "What is it with you? You always spend your time alone on your birthday every year and we always end up celebrating your birthday the day before or after." Charlie looked down at his hand with a smirk trying to get away from the topic. "Cassandra was complaining at me for your birthday problem. When I've got nothing to do with it, thanks to you." He grumbled as he watched Cassandra talk to his boss intimidately. "Your girlfriend is flirting with her boss again Charles..." David examined his reaction but Charlie didn't change an expression, rather a reaction he already knew. "Why are you guys still together?" David whispered as he pushed off the floor sliding closer to Charlie in his wheelie chair. Charlie grinned as he breathed out of his nose and put his hand behind his head. "I don't know."

Cassandra was two years younger than Charlie. When she first met Charlie, she felt something sympathetic about him through her senses. She smelt the same scent of past and the sorrowful back he had that only she noticed. At the time she had a boyfriend who was an executive director of an IT company, but she dumped him as soon as she held the confidence to be able to be Charlie's girlfriend. Out of interest she slid in smoothly through his walls of his protection to keep people away and became his girlfriend in no time.  Cassandra never asked about his past because she knew or should I say sensed that he had a traumatic experience with love. So did she. When she was a college student, she fell in love like any other and enjoyed her life. Until she found out that she had a new life within her. She told her boyfriend as soon as she found out with excitement, but he only put on a jarring face and told her to get an abortion without a moment of thought. She was shocked and hurt, but she still chose to have the baby obistanately and with love to her baby inside because the baby is the child of a man she once loved. As each day she spent studying and living with the baby inside. The child gave her hope and excitement with love that grew bigger and bigger each day. That is why the day the tragic and cruel murder happened, she fell into the deepest and darkest pit that she could never climb back up from. It was on 16th January, Tuesday, 2007, four more weeks till the due date of her son. Her stomach was already large with a bump and even her friends and family were excited for her, except one. She was walking back from her college slowly, walking uneasily with her large bump. She held her stomach patting it and talking to him with her best friend the same way every day. Walking the straight road, then catching a train at the station and to the station closest to her house, where her parents would be waiting to pick her up to cause less risks. It was when she was heading to the station to catch a train the incident happened. As always she walked to the elevator instead of taking the steep stairs but that day she got to the station later than usual. She was slightly rushed and panicky. When she had finally reached the elevator, the train had arrived and the elevator had just closed on her. She reluctantly chose to walk down the stairs slowly and carefully grabbing on to the rails on the sides with all her caution. But she felt a sudden push from behind that caused her to lose her balance and tumble down the stairs. She was a victim of the brutal murder caused by the father of the child. Cassandra was got away with a light head injury but she had gone mad mentally, regretting the choice to take the stairs instead of taking the elevator, taking her time and then riding on the next train. As the words of blame swarmed through her head, she had lost herself, death crawling upon her everyday with blood. Her friends slowly disappeared from her, her parents couldn't keep themselves together from the shock and gradually grew apart to divorce. Though no one blamed her, she blamed herself each day and no one could save her. After her mother taking her to a mental home, she realized that she had no one around her anymore.  She was abandoned by her parents and friends, and lost her son who couldn't have a moment to cry. It took her almost four years to be at the final point of leaving and living out in the world alone.

She thought that she had learnt an important lesson while she was young. That love can only kill you, nothing more or less.