Forever

chapter 5 (Will's POV)

I stopped aging as soon as I hit 29.

I kept wondering why everyone around me kept aging, while I stayed exactly the same.

No one could explain it to me.

I eventually theorized that it was : 1. Some kind of mutation that was passed down at birth, 2. God had a terrible sense of humor, or 3. It was some kind of curse, forcing me to live out an endless amount of lifetimes with no end in sight.

Hell, the earth as a whole might end without me, and I'd probably still be kicking it in space. That is, unless I get picked up by extraterrestrials.

Who's to say they don't exist? I especially am in no place to speak on the impossible.

After all, I've witnessed the introduction of the telephone, and the development of it into a pocketed device that can do almost anything.

I suppose Edison would be proud.

It of course, doesn't matter to me. Not now anyway.

For a very long time, my life didn't really have much meaning.

Well, technically it still doesn't.

After all when you live forever, time doesn't mean a thing to you. Everything loses its meaning.

I must sound like a broken record saying this, but that whole perspective shifted once I saw her.

As soon as I got the opportunity, I looked her up.
After a few tries, I had to make sure that I wasn't seeing things wrong. I had to double check if i spelled her name correctly.

s-i-m-o-n-e.

h-a-r-t-f-o-r-d.

The top result was some model-esque blonde, hand in hand with a low level executive from a random media company.

That definitely wasn't the girl I was looking for.

I sighed deeply, and nearly slammed my head into my desk.

She gave me someone else's name.

I should've known.

Why would she give me, a broken man, her real name? After all, she had no reason to associate with me whatsoever. She probably wasn't going to see me ever again. Not to mention that with how disheveled I looked, I probably looked like some bum who just lost his job or something.

I wrestled with these thoughts in silence for a few minutes more, before I heard a knock on my office door.

"Will?! What the hell are you still doing here?", A voice scolded.

I slowly lifted my head, squinting over the brightly lit screen of my computer, to see a tall, older man in his early 40's staring back at me. His black hair was cut close to his scalp, and his tie was undone, probably in anticipation for the upcoming drive home to his family.

"I could say the same for you Theo." I answered blandly.

Theodore huffed loudly and crossed his arms.

"I don't know why I'm friends with you, William." He answered haughtily, as he walked around my desk, " What are you working on anyway?" 

I quickly turned the monitor around, in a futile attempt to block his view. In all the years I've known Theodore Kipling, he's been the nosiest,annoying person I had ever met. At the same time, he was the least judgmental person I had the honor to meet. After all, with the societal issues surrounding his appearance, he didn't want anyone to feel as shitty as other people had treated him in his youth.

His words, not mine.

So when I finally told him about my inability to die, he took it in stride, and shrugged it off, saying it would make a great pickup line.

Theo leaned over my shoulder, getting uncomfortably close, and whispered, "Looking up a girl, huh?"

"Come on, you know thats not-"

"Oh, it isn't? When was the last time your lazy ass decided to stay in the office this late?" Theo interrupted, cutting me off mid- sentence.

"I-"

"Exactly, dude. Literally never. Has to be a girl." he paused, "Or porn."

"What kind of a -"

"-person I think you are? The worst kind, Will, the worst kind." Theo interrupted again, with a wry grin, his brown eyes twinkling in the dim lighting of my office.

"Fuck off Theo, this isn't 1985. You have a wife and kids now."

Theodore simply rolled his eyes in response, and proceeded to turn the monitor back around, while pushing me out of the way. Upon seeing the real Simone Hartford on Facebook, Theodore released a long, low whistle.

"I ain't saying she's a golddigger, but she definitely aint messin' with a broke n****"

"She's not the one I was trying to find, Theo."

"Oh, she isn't huh? Then why is wannabe video hoe number 3 on your screen?"

"She gave me the wrong name." I answered dejectedly.

"Oh, is that so? What did the mystery girl look like then?"

"She's..." I trailed, hesitating to tell him exactly what she looked like. I already knew what would happen once I were to describe her to him.

Theodore's eyebrow arched in curiosity, as a smirk appeared on his face.

"Why are you holding out on me Will? Don't tell me, you finally got with the times, and started jonesing for a black girl."He teased.

I sighed, and gave him an exasperated expression. I mean, yeah, he was right, but I wasn't about to admit it out loud, lest he starts hollering in the pin drop silence of the office. That's the only reason.

I won't lie, all of my wives were white.

But don't misunderstand, I'm not racist.

It just wasn't socially acceptable at the time, and I'm not one to take risks. Especially since, at the time, I did not yet know that I couldn't die. I thought the extent of my condition was eternal youth, not immortality.

How wrong was I.

"You did, didn't you?!" He shouted, nearly shattering my eardrums.

His lips stretched into a wide grin, as he thrust his fist in the air in a show of victory. He had been betting on me marrying a black woman for the past twenty years, after all. And of course, was consistently disappointed every time I told him I wasn't dating anyone.

"This is exactly why I didn't want you knowing." I answered exasperatedly.

"So? How can I help?"

"How can you, really? I have zero clues as to who she is. All I know is..."

I have to find her.

Theodore just grinned widely at me, and cracked his knuckles.

"Let the Boss work his magic, Will. I got you."

I know.