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The candlelight flickers as the once long, elegant candles burn to nubs, hot wax spilling over the holders to pool in abstract patterns on the table. In the distance, a low rumble of thunder reminds me of the storm brewing outside. It'll be raining any minute now.
I try to make out the hands on the clock, but it's hidden in the shadows. It's late. That much I know.
Sighing, I sweep up the molten mess in one hand, and wince as wax drips onto my finger. It hardens instantly, and I flick it off with a thump. Dropping the candles in the garbage can, I glance at the clock hanging on the wall.
Well after midnight like I thought. I really shouldn't expect so much. Not from you. Not anymore. But still, when I talked to you earlier, you had sounded almost happy to hear my voice. I'd thought that you were ready to...I'm not sure what exactly. I certainly wasn't under the delusion that everything could go back to the way it had been. I didn't even want it to. But I thought maybe, just maybe, we could try to salvage what was left of our battered friendship. What does it matter, though? I was obviously wrong.
It had been so long since I'd talked to you without the bitter animosity creeping into the conversation. Either from you or me...usually from both. The attempts to be civil to each other, urged by our friends and family, had invariably ended in near disaster. After the shouted accusations and angry retorts were over, someone would storm from the room or slam down the phone. I admit to being the guilty party more than once.
But I thought we had put all of that behind us. I thought you wanted to move on, try to get past all of that. I thought you wanted it as much as I did. Wrong again. I was so sick of all the fighting and arguing. And I missed you. More than you'll ever know. I was ready to forget the past.
Another sigh that I can't control. I look out the window where the rain is now coming down in sheets. Down the street I see headlights pierce through the dense downpour, and for a second, just a split second, I feel a sudden rush of hope. Shaking my head, I turn away from the window and make my way toward my bedroom, resolved to spend another lonely night there.
As I reach the entrance, I hear a noise at the front door. I freeze and hold my breath, silently willing myself to hear it again. And I do. This time louder and more urgent than before.
Moving quicker than I have in ages, I wrench the door open. There you are, drenched to the bone, water trickling down your face in tiny rivulets, smiling at me.
"I thought..."
You just nod. After all, we never needed words, did we?
~finis~
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