The time after dinner had left him feeling empty. He hadn't wanted to leave Michel's apartment, nor the lively company of his irrepressible mother but he felt awkward when Patria headed off to bed. He was completely unprepared for the long hug that she gave him and unnerved by the words she spoke in his ear,
Release his ghost, little one. A new angel is waiting to claim you
. He hardly heard Michel's words of good night and half-stumbled up the stairs.
Hardy's apartment seemed to be drawn in black and white, instead of the vivid colors that belonged to Michel. It seemed as if the apartment was mirroring his life and that had made him stop and think about how he was seeing things. Hardy represented the past, clearly drawn in black and white. Did that mean that Michel was the color of the future? He didn't know. He was so tired that he just shucked off his clothes and went to sleep.
That was the first night he had the dream.
He was standing outside a door and he slowly pushed it open to reveal Hardy bathed in bright light, lazily reclining in their bed. He raced to the bed and dove into his lover's arms, hungrily kissing the laughing man and rubbing every inch of his body against him. God, he missed this so much! The warmth of Hardy's body against his and his laughter filling the air. Suddenly, the room was empty and the light was fading, its rays revealing Hardy's outline which morphed into a man that he didn't recognize and suddenly, yellow sunlight filled the space and the young man was arranging fragrant red roses in a vase. The blond-haired man smiled at him and offered his hand ...
The phone rang and Caiden sleepily blinked at the sunlight, then leaned over to answer it. "Hello?"
"Good morning!"
"Michel? What time is it?"
"Nearly ten o'clock. You haven't forgotten your promise, have you?"
Caiden rubbed his face, wondering how much wine he'd had last night and what exactly he'd promised to the young man. "Uh, no."
