Dating : The Kiss

She turned in bed and reached over to see if he was there. The bed was still warm where his body was.

She pretended to be asleep when she heard the door squeak open. The room filled with the aroma of coffee and the floor creaked as he snuck next to her and put the mug on the night stand.

He bent down to kiss her cheek and despite her best efforts she couldn’t stop from smiling.

“Wake up,” he said softly, “or we’re going to miss it.”

“When I agreed to this I didn’t realize just how early 4:00 AM was,” she said.

“I promise it’s worth it.”

“And if it’s not?”

“Then I’ll watch one of those shows on Bravo you’ve been trying to get me to watch.”

She sat up, “You promise?”

“Promise.”

They got dressed in the dark. She pulled on her shorts and a flannel shirt as even though it was summer the morning still carried a chill. She bent down to tie her boots.

“Never mind we don’t have to go anywhere. The views not getting any better than this.”

“Oh my god stop.”

“Well it’s true.”

“Let’s go.”

“Fine. You walk first.”

“You’re impossible.”

They walked through the back door of the cabin. The forest was still cloaked in mist without the early morning sun to burn it off.

The trail was a couple hundred yards down the road. The woods were quiet and the road was empty. She headed down the trail first her boots crunching on the gravel.

He caught up to her putting his arm around her.

“Oh? What did I do to deserve this?”

“You just looked cold is all,” he said his words dripping with his backwoods country charm.

“Well, my head’s the coldest,” she said taking his baseball cap.

“Ugh, you can’t touch a man’s hat.”

“Too late.”

He kissed her on the forehead and they kept walking.

Finally, they made it to their destination. The trail made its way down to the lake but the two of them got off the trail climbing up a hill so they could sit and see the whole beach. He put down a blanket.

“I can’t believe you’ve never done this before.”

“Getting up before dawn is not something I like to make a habit of.”

But, then the sun started to come up.

And there were no words to describe the sun coming up over the water. They just sat there in silence. It was one of those moments. They don’t happen often but when they do they must be cherished. You could boil any one person’s lifetime to a handful of moments and this was one.

“That, that was something.”

“I told you so.”

“That was perfect.”

“So I don’t have to watch Bravo?”

“I’m never watching TV again. This is all I want to see.”

“Well, you’ll have to start getting up earlier.”

“It might be worth it.”

“Want to go swimming?”

“Yes.”

They hiked back down to the water. The beach so empty it seemed like they shouldn’t be there.

She peeled off her clothes and took off her boots.

“Are you coming?” she asked as he sat in the sand.

“You go ahead. I want to remember this.”

“Suit yourself.”

She walked into the water. It was cold. Colder than she thought. She nearly yelped. She turned back to tell him to be careful.

But he wasn’t watching.

He was laying unconscious in the sand.

That’s when the dream turned into a nightmare.

The days in the cabin were gone. They had to move back to the city.

Their life became doctor appointment after doctor appointment and hospital visit after hospital visit.

Until the visits were no longer necessary.

She cried like she’d never cried before. She cried at the funeral. For days and weeks she found herself crying as though grief was a rogue wave and she was out at sea alone.

She hated waking up by herself.

She hated that there wasn’t coffee on the night stand anymore.

Suddenly she woke up.

It was the same dream she had every night.

Their last day together.

Each time she woke up she would wear she heard the door opening and could smell the coffee but the house was empty.

And the kiss.

She could feel it in her dreams every night. Except this time something was different.

She put her hand to her cheek and it was cold, as if a ghost pecked her on the cheek. And she smiled knowing that in some way he was still there.