Raphael was being awkward, Michelle thought. Of course, that was perfectly understandable.
"You... don't look like you're living with anyone else?" Raphael said. The blonde man in T-shirt, jeans and with battered eyeglasses smiled widely at his friend who sat on the couch next to him.
The busty short-haired brunette in red T-shirt, jeans and with round glasses smiled in return. "No, I'm still single. And I'm loving it."
Rain poured outside of Michelle's skyscraper apartment. It was evening; the rain clouds were dark, but the horizon was almost unnaturally bright. The summer was clearly turning toward autumn.
They had met the day before over a coffee, and it hadn't been this awkward. It had been years. They had both succeeded in their own paths. It was never a problem to talk about work...
"Really, now?" Raphael said. "So you're not as... romantic as we were back when we were when we were teens?" Clumsy questions, obviously...
"Oh, I can be pretty romantic when the mood strikes me," Michelle said. "Though... I have to say I'm not exactly as super-faithful. There, I said it."
"You... uh..." Raphael said. "I'm not sure if I should talkβ"
"Nonsense," Michelle said. "Let's talk about it. Look, you're an old-fashioned guy. I get that."
"Fine," Raphael said. "I'm not sure if I should talk about sex with someone I left..."
"But you can talk about it with me!" Michelle said. "Look, I just wanted you to come over here to make you happy again. And it'd be fun if we could just... talk about it."
"Okay," Raphael said.
"We have big differences," Michelle said. "That's why we broke up."
"Ah," Raphael said. "I thought that was obvious."
"I don't think we can move all of the rocks aside, but I just wanted to say... you have flaws that you can fix." Michelle sighed. "I like being free and having fun," Michelle said. "I can understand it if people put limits to their free and fun. But you seem to... put limits in places where they don't belong."
"Really?" Raphael asked.
"Like, what's wrong about talking about sex with me?" Michelle said. "I talk about sex with everyone."
"Okay, I guess you have a point there," Raphael said. "Um... Do you... have a lot of guests here?"
"Yeah." Michelle nodded. A slow smile crept on her face.
"Um..." Raphael looked a bit confused, not really sure what to say.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad," Michelle said. "Just because I have sex with a lot of people doesn't mean I care less about you. That's what I wanted to say next."
"Oh?" Raphael said.
"You're a good friend. Like you said yesterday, let's just... let past things be past and think of the good sides. I still think you're one of the coolest people ever. Even when we haven't seen each other in years."
Raphael smiled. "I... I think I'm fine with that."
"I'm single. You're single again. We're both just random free people." Michelle smiled. "I'm not saying we should get married again, but I'm just saying we're free. Can't we just... be free? Even for a while?"