Solar Eclipse of The Heart

Prologue

And there goes another night...

He gapes at the body sleeping beside him and thinks, isn't that the body I dreamt of yesterday? Isn't that body all I desired the  last night? So why am I looking at it with disgust now? He lies on his side, observing her, trying to encounter what could possibly be special about her. Defined jaw, narrow eyes, pointed nose. Nothing special, he thought. Even the lips he kissed the other night aren't as appealing to him as they were.

He reposes on the back of the bed, lights his cigarette and enjoys the tranquility... But here comes the most miserable time of each night, when the momentary happiness passes by to leave him naked and defenseless against his memories. The somber time of the night after the transient pleasure has slurped all his energy to abandon him out of power in the face of his unforgiveable flashbacks.

He gets up, removes the blanket from the naked woman and sways through the wide terrace shirtless, only in a pair of jeans. It's now winter; the hibiscus is no longer in bloom. The red slowly fades, petals falling off each day. He still looks out the window, however, longing for it to be spring again. Longing to be able to turn back time. Still, the air is frozen lace on his skin, delicate and cold, like winter waves on sallow sand.

His curls are midnight black and his eyes are dark brown, framed by graceful brows. His skin is tanned. He has prominent cheekbones and a well-defined chin and nose. He's always obscured by his fuzzy, unshaved beard. Muscles rip across every part of his body. He's obviously a seasoned warrior.

When do I escape from this dreadful loneliness? He wonders.

"What the hell?! You idiot," The woman yells, placing the blanket over her bare body. "Come inside, you'll catch a cold," She says but he doesn't give her any attention. She raises an eyebrow and says, "And you're in a perfect health... So don't throw that away.."

He glances at her for the first time and says, "Look at you!"

She laughs out loud as he gazes back to the space above. Perhaps it's drugs, or likely the head she gave him, but the stars above glow large like street-lamps. Each one is more of a sallow yellow orb than a brilliant pin-brick of white. It's as if Vincent Van Gogh himself has returned to paint the night sky.

"Do you like the wind that much?" She wonders and he smirks erratically.

"And why you're asking?" He prods as she wraps her body with the blanket that doesn't provide her any taste of warmth.

"Look at me then look at you. How come you're not even shivering?!"

He smiles and states, "I might've gotten tired of shivering.."

She laughs vociferously and says, "How could you stand this beauty and stare at the space?"

"At least it's chaste," He yaps, then smiles out of the blue and says as he encircles his arm around her shoulder, "Brainiac Robert is coming tomorrow!"

She smiles and inquires unknowingly after a moment of silence, "His name is Brainiac?" He laughs.

"Nope, his name is Robert Adams, an electronics engineer. He's gone to America on a scholarship and he's been working there for ten years. He visits us every two or three years." He explains.

"It's clear you love him." She concludes.

He smiles, "No one hates him, he's the perfection itself. Then, we've been friends for more than I'm able to count."

"And you..  What did you graduate in?"

"A conservatory."

She laughs and says, "Me too."

They both laugh hardly. That's your educational level, suck it up, he told himself.

"And what brought you together?" She questions.

"Fellowships. We were in the same high school so we got to know each other and we became unseparated. Brainiac Robert, Kindy Ricky and I."

She draws her body closer to him seeking warmth, "And who's Kindy Ricky? Is it also a nickname?" She guesses.

"Kindy is one of the sweetest characters you could possibly ever meet in your entire life. His name is Rick Montgomery, a gracious human being, the smartest of the three of us. He's neither so complicated as Robert nor so imaginative as me. He loves what he works so he works what he loves, he's married and a father of three. We still see each other till this day." He replies, then stops as if he gets tired talking for long.

"And you," she wonders. "Do you also have a nickname?"

He smiles ruefully, "Yes."

She keeps silent but when he doesn't give her an answer she insists, "What is it?"

He says smiling, " Cole... Cole The Utopian."

Her eyebrows interlace as she asks, "And what's the meaning?"

He chuckles, "It means the fantast."

"The fantast?"

"It's someone far away from life... far from reality. Distant from everything."

She gasps something out but he ceases her, eloping away from the memories, "Are we going to spend the night playing 20 questions or what?"

She says pleasantly as she grips his hand drawing him towards the bed, "Not at all. Let's spend it in more crucial things.."

He halts attracting her towards him and says, "The flight is arriving soon."

He hauls her forcefully and hugs her gently in a way that makes her heart beat vigorously against her chest. He continues, "I forgot to tell you that I know what every woman wants from me, or what she absolutely needs," He smirks, "as long as we have sex."

She smiles as her hazelnut hair falls in perfect curls on her olive shoulders and her hazel eyes glance around watching him. He starts wearing his clothes then stops as if he remembered something.

"You see how you made me tell you all of this and didn't let me know something important!" He tells her and she looks at him debatably.

Have I really hugged her cause I knew she needed it? Or because her eyes look like hers. He thought.

He kicks the cruel memories out of his mind and asks her, "What's your name?"