I wanted to run after Dr. Brenner but my legs wouldn't move. I stood there, my mouth agape and was resolved that the man was intent on making himself stand out in my mind. I looked around, conscious of what his parting words were to me and felt as though someone besides me heard him. I slowly and deliberately moved towards the door and closed it, my head drawn down looking at my feet. I moved mechanically, like a robot without a will of my own. I looked around my living room and wasn't sure whether I wanted to draw a bath or just slump down my leather couch. I went for the latter and found my hand reaching out for the TV remote control. I turned on the TV and wasn't sure what program came on, but the noise helped even if the words didn't make sense to me. I think I was in the same position for almost an hour when my phone rang. I just let it go to my voicemail and didn't pick up. I sat staring at nothing for another hour or so when I finally found the strength, the will, to get up and headed towards my bathroom in the bedroom and started the water running. Maybe a bath will help soothe my fragile nerves. I would like to come down from this overactive day of emotions and baths always helped me relax. When my bath was ready, I slowly peeled off my clothes and stared at my nudity in front of my full sized mirror. My knees were red from kneeling down on the concrete ground of the parking garage. I studied myself and wondered why the image before me was unfamiliar. She was a stranger in my eyes. I only recognized the hazel eyes staring back at me as I peered closer. I touched my lips, the same lips who hungrily kissed Chris Brenner back in the car. They were plump and reddish even without any lipstick and they are that way, partly because I must have been chewing slightly on them as the day transpired. My eyes were puffy from crying earlier and my hair was all tangled up from when Chris, Dr. Brenner has mussed it up while in the act of kissing me. I turned to head to the bathroom when in the corner of my eyes; I caught sight of a blonde haired man lying on my bed! I spun around fast to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me and as I stared at my bed, I realized that my eyes were indeed just playing with my psyche again. Henry cannot be in my bed. He is dead. He is buried six feet under the cold earth. I shivered and hugged myself and quietly walked towards my bathroom. I sank in the very warm water of my bath and closed my eyes. The water felt so good against my skin and the bath gel smelled fresh, like a morning after rain. My eyelids felt heavy and I could easily fall asleep but my mind won't allow sleep to come to me.
I started humming a tune, a tune that was completely familiar to both Henry and me. Suddenly, I heard him, singing along as I hummed "The Way You Look Tonight" in his beautiful timbre. I immediately opened my eyes and sat up in my bath. And that was when all the tears came flowing out of my eyes, once more. "God, I will miss him so much." I sobbed to myself. No matter how much he's hurt me in the past, nothing will erase the fact that he was such a huge contributor to what I am now and I felt no shame in admitting that. As I sobbed, immersed in the warm comfort of my bath, I allowed my mind to drift back to our first meeting. Fresh out of college, I was with my four girlfriends and we were partying, celebrating a post graduation ceremony and after our parents have left us to enjoy the rest of the night away. We were at Spinnakers, a swanky bar in the North End, and were made to have the appearance of Spago. I remember how the bouncer tried to flirt with me and Candy, my blonde friend. He was a big and muscular guy named Chad and he followed us around the club that night, dropping by our table every now and then, asking if we were enjoying ourselves. I felt so confident that night. The world was my oyster and I was feeling simply lovely, as though I could have anything my heart desired. We were drinking, we were dancing and the men in the club all had their eyes on us. We were the crème de la crème of the evening. We were the princesses who held court of men fawning all over us. We were boisterous, we were laughing, and we were being ourselves when I noticed him. He was standing right near the DJ's equipments and he looked so serious. I thought he may have been the manager or the owner of the club as he surveyed the crowd around him. And then he noticed me looking at him and our eyes locked. And for the rest of the night, I was aware of him watching as men came and went by our table, Even when I was on the floor dancing with the guy who has asked me to dance at least three times, I was aware of his eyes fixed on me, watching my every move. When I got back to our table and the rest of my friends were still on the dance floor dancing, that was when he sauntered towards our table. It was as though he waited to have me all to himself. He got to our table the same time the music changed and my friends came rushing back. He stood in front of me as my friends sat down and all eyes went to him. They were giggling like college girls and my heart wildly beat inside my chest. I was nervous he was going to step back and not say anything since his moment was ruined by my giggling college girlfriends. I was mildly annoyed and embarrassed too, since I did not want him to think I was some childish and immature college girl. To my relief, he did not step back, instead, he has ignored my friends, gently took my right hand and lifted it to his lips after saying, "I just wanted to stop by your very busy table to tell you that you are very beautiful." And he gently pressed the back of my hand to his lips, and turned around and walked away. He never even gave me a chance to thank him for the compliment. He was so smooth that all my girlfriends, including me, gasped and sighed at the very "savoir faire" action. Melissa, my redheaded friend said, "Wow, how cool is that? That's how a man makes an impression, not like these fawning boys all around us!" I looked at her after she's said that, because he made an impression.
Although I wasn't going to chase or follow him around the club, I made sure that he always had a good view of me as the night went on. He never approached me again or even asked me to dance during the night and I resigned myself that perhaps, he may have been impressed in the beginning, but it wore out the moment he discovered my girlfriends were giggly college girls. Of course, I was really irritated with their behavior and have placed the blame on them. When the DJ announced last call for alcohol, I secretly looked around for him and he wasn't there anymore. I let out a sigh of disappointment as we all got up from our table and when the guys came over to get our numbers or invite us for an early breakfast, I was the only one who did not show any interest since the guy I wanted was gone. I politely declined the invitations even with my friends whining they wanted to go. I looked to my friend Tessa, the most practical one for back up on my decision to forego the breakfast invitations and she shot me a look that told me she also wanted to acquiesce to the guys' invitation. I nodded and smiled letting them know that I can get a cab home by myself and they all leaped up in excitement. Some of the guys were obviously disappointed that I wasn't going to join them, but I really had no desire to, not when the real Prince Charming I had hoped for has gone home and disappeared without telling me his name. He wasn't even my type since he was blonde, but there was something in those blue peepers. There was mystery, intelligence, sex, cruelty, kindness, dirty and noble, all at the same time. I was still a virgin but there was the man I was willing to give it up to, but he disappeared, like the bright, shining star that burnt out and was done, after this magical night where I thought I can have it all. I watched my friends walked out of the club, arm in arm with the guys and wondered momentarily if those guys were going to get lucky and get laid by my four pretty friends. I smiled at the nasty direction my thoughts went to and then, just when I thought I was all by myself to my own naughty self, Chad the bouncer came sidling up to me. "I have met you before this night." He said, pausing for effect, before saying, "in my dreams." I chuckled at the weakness of his pick up line, but was polite and responded in a very neutral way with, "Well, I will just have to consider that a high compliment. Thank you." To which he replied back with, "would you like me to walk you to your car?" and I requested him nicely to call me a cab, instead. He happily asked me to take a seat at the lobby/waiting area and went to the desk phone to call me a cab. While I sat down, expecting Chad the bouncer to come back out to flirt with me some more, a red Stingray pulled up at the curbside and out stepped my blonde Prince Charming. My eyes lit up at the sight of him as he walked towards where I was seated. He smiled at me and his hand extended as if I was a princess he was asking to dance. I gave my hand to him and got up as Chad came walking out of the club calling out to me and my mystery man. I looked back at Chad and mouthed thank you and goodbye as he stood there scratching his head. My prince charming opened the passenger side door as he said, "Madame?" and I got in saying thank you. He came around the car and hopped in and said, "Henry Lancaster. And you are?" He said the words in such determined yet playful manner. I gave him my name and he repeated it three times. "Isabeau Warner, Isabeau, Isabeau." And then he told me that my name stood for "fair child" or "handsome one". Adding that it was non-gender specific. I told him I knew, since it was my father who picked my name for me. He chuckled and told me that I was a smart aleck. I laughed at the comment he made. I added that Henry seemed too ordinary for him as a name to which he replied back, "O, but I am far from just ordinary, my dear Isabeau." And he started driving off, I know not where. We ended up at Thirteen Coins in the Airport strip and had breakfast and he introduced me to "fried ice cream". I recall that he ordered for me. I wasn't asked what I wanted to eat or drink. He took command of the moment and I didn't feel strange about it when under normal circumstances, I always insisted my parents hear me out, whatever the case may be. It was odd that I had allowed the decision to him. Perhaps, it was the way he confidently impressed himself to me. To this day, I don't know why, but it felt normal. But it was a foreboding of what's to come in our relationship.
I smiled at the memory of my first meeting with Henry. He was something else. He knew how to make an impression and make it last, that's for sure. I looked at my hands which were starting to prune and decided that my bath is over and got out. As I dried myself, I looked at my face in the bathroom mirror. I am fortunate to have my father's high cheekbones and his eyes. My father's eyes were huge and with lashes most women would envy. I even got his eyebrows which were full and unbelievably arched and tame like a woman's, except his was thicker and manly. I am also lucky or unlucky, dependant on what day it is to have been endowed with my mother's figure. My figure is waiflike but I have ample breasts and my buttocks are full and without any effort to diet, endowed with a very slim waistline. I have a body made for sex and made to wear sweaters and tight skirts. I am pleased often with the reaction I get from both men and women. Mostly men but at times, there is that arrogant, proud side of me that gets a thrill from the jealous look I get from my own gender. And it was that pride that made me peel off my black skirt and turned my backside to the two women in the lobby bathroom earlier, prior to my meeting with Dr. Brenner. I put my hair up in a pony tail and threw on my satin robe and headed to the kitchen. I just remembered I had not had anything to eat since this morning. I got some grapes out of the refrigerator and started to pop one fruit in my mouth at a time while going through my mail. I got several cards of sympathy from colleagues and friends and one from Melissa which is an announcement of her coming nuptial to Rob, one of the guys we met a long time ago in the same club I met Henry. That was when I remembered I had a scheduled fitting for my bridesmaid's dress tomorrow. I was glad I went through my mail or the appointment would have been completely forgotten by me. I was sure that it would have been Sara that would get married before anyone of us but it was Melissa. She, who said that Henry was a man and not like the boys in the club that fateful night, Sara was always the one who seemed more down to earth and was ready to settle down. Candy, on the other hand, was too free spirited to just get hitched and Tessa, she seemed determined to be a spinster, if that was even an ambition or goal a woman desires. Melissa will make a beautiful bride, nonetheless. I grabbed the bowl of grapes and walked to the couch and lied down, still reading some of my mail and setting the bowl of grapes on my coffee table. My eyes were tired and I set the mail down on the floor besides me and placed my arm on top of my eyes and slowly fell asleep.
A trail of stem less white rose buds floated in my dream. Some were covered with droplets of red and my body seems to float on top of the flowers. I was floating and following the trail which was endless. They were beautiful and tragic looking with the blood spatter on them. I kept floating until the roses seemed to have disappeared and only the traces of red were left. I floated over a casket and as my eyesight focused directly above the opening of the casket, Henry's face, his eyes closed, came to my view. He looked serene, as if he was only sleeping. Then he suddenly opened his eyes and he grinned at me. My heart stopped at the sight of him inside the coffin and then he winked at me. I was startled from my sleep with the dream and I sat up shivering even though it was at least seventy two degrees in my living room. This second wild dream I have had since his death doesn't scare me. They only puzzle me. It feels as though Henry is trying to tell me something. Sure, we had a very volatile and abnormal relationship near the end but we were never sinister towards one another. And if anything, I should be the one with much bitterness towards the relationship, not him. But Henry was very good in playing the victim at times. What if before he died, he had some unspoken and imagined hurt from our relationship I was not made aware of and there are certainly things about him he has never revealed to me. The prime example would be that he had family. Well, at least a half brother. So, at this time of puzzling and mysterious dreams, I now question if Henry is trying to frighten me or trying to tell me something. Perhaps I am overreacting since he has only been gone less than a week. I am sure it is quite normal dreams of him or even flashbacks of moments with him will dominate my mind for the time being. It isn't like a damn pair of shoes you suddenly ruined, tossed away and then completely forget what color they were after a day when you have already bought a different pair as replacement. Henry wasn't a pair of shoes. He meant something to me even if I wanted to shout to the rooftops that his death doesn't hurt me or affect me. Because the truth of the matter is, his death does hurt me. It pains me that I will no longer be able to bounce ideas or situation to him where I would find a kindred spirit laughing with me at how I handled them and how I have reacted. I don't have Henry anymore to tell me how unbelievably odd I am in handling things. And when he told me those things, they were not meant as a put down, they were meant to goad me more to a more extreme way or method. Henry was a pseudo sadistic mentalist who loved to puppeteer bold and brazen acts of abnormal. And I was a keen and apt student. We both have a thirst for mind games and we both excel in it. That was when my mind wandered to the idea of Chris Brenner, and my curiosity to whether the good doctor is capable of mentally challenging me the way his half brother did. Oh and how excellently Henry challenged me. He was almost my equal and my only advantage on him was that I was even better in playing the innocent than he can ever imagine. I out myself to him now and then, of course, but Henry was always left reeling at how intricate my role of an innocent and then blindsiding him to win our mind plays when I revert back to the vixen he adored. He loved it. And I wondered if Dr. Brenner will be a worthy foe or ally, whatever side he may end up in, if I took him on or introduced him to the environment I was accustomed to, with his half brother. I would have continued to reminisce about Henry if it weren't for my mobile phone beeping and announcing that I have a voice mail. I walked towards my kitchen counter and looked at my phone and the blue LED light indicated that, indeed, I have a message. I traced my security lock on the phone and tap the voicemail icon as I put it on speaker mode. I never listened to my voicemail in private and I always skip the prompts just going directly to visual voicemails. "Mi amor, I am on my way, I'm just leaving my pad now, I'll see you very soon, slick, around 6:30. Be naked when I get there." Henry's deep, husky and teasing voice came on! I whirled around so fast; I dropped the bowl of grapes on the couch and felt my knees wobbled a bit. How was that possible? My eyes shot straight at the wall clock and realized it was already 6:15 in the early evening. I tried to pick up the grapes that spilled out from the bowl when I heard the doorbell rang. I ran towards the door with a lump in my throat. My eyes gleamed with excitement as I breathlessly whispered, "Henry?" as my hand reached towards the lock.
I started humming a tune, a tune that was completely familiar to both Henry and me. Suddenly, I heard him, singing along as I hummed "The Way You Look Tonight" in his beautiful timbre. I immediately opened my eyes and sat up in my bath. And that was when all the tears came flowing out of my eyes, once more. "God, I will miss him so much." I sobbed to myself. No matter how much he's hurt me in the past, nothing will erase the fact that he was such a huge contributor to what I am now and I felt no shame in admitting that. As I sobbed, immersed in the warm comfort of my bath, I allowed my mind to drift back to our first meeting. Fresh out of college, I was with my four girlfriends and we were partying, celebrating a post graduation ceremony and after our parents have left us to enjoy the rest of the night away. We were at Spinnakers, a swanky bar in the North End, and were made to have the appearance of Spago. I remember how the bouncer tried to flirt with me and Candy, my blonde friend. He was a big and muscular guy named Chad and he followed us around the club that night, dropping by our table every now and then, asking if we were enjoying ourselves. I felt so confident that night. The world was my oyster and I was feeling simply lovely, as though I could have anything my heart desired. We were drinking, we were dancing and the men in the club all had their eyes on us. We were the crème de la crème of the evening. We were the princesses who held court of men fawning all over us. We were boisterous, we were laughing, and we were being ourselves when I noticed him. He was standing right near the DJ's equipments and he looked so serious. I thought he may have been the manager or the owner of the club as he surveyed the crowd around him. And then he noticed me looking at him and our eyes locked. And for the rest of the night, I was aware of him watching as men came and went by our table, Even when I was on the floor dancing with the guy who has asked me to dance at least three times, I was aware of his eyes fixed on me, watching my every move. When I got back to our table and the rest of my friends were still on the dance floor dancing, that was when he sauntered towards our table. It was as though he waited to have me all to himself. He got to our table the same time the music changed and my friends came rushing back. He stood in front of me as my friends sat down and all eyes went to him. They were giggling like college girls and my heart wildly beat inside my chest. I was nervous he was going to step back and not say anything since his moment was ruined by my giggling college girlfriends. I was mildly annoyed and embarrassed too, since I did not want him to think I was some childish and immature college girl. To my relief, he did not step back, instead, he has ignored my friends, gently took my right hand and lifted it to his lips after saying, "I just wanted to stop by your very busy table to tell you that you are very beautiful." And he gently pressed the back of my hand to his lips, and turned around and walked away. He never even gave me a chance to thank him for the compliment. He was so smooth that all my girlfriends, including me, gasped and sighed at the very "savoir faire" action. Melissa, my redheaded friend said, "Wow, how cool is that? That's how a man makes an impression, not like these fawning boys all around us!" I looked at her after she's said that, because he made an impression.
Although I wasn't going to chase or follow him around the club, I made sure that he always had a good view of me as the night went on. He never approached me again or even asked me to dance during the night and I resigned myself that perhaps, he may have been impressed in the beginning, but it wore out the moment he discovered my girlfriends were giggly college girls. Of course, I was really irritated with their behavior and have placed the blame on them. When the DJ announced last call for alcohol, I secretly looked around for him and he wasn't there anymore. I let out a sigh of disappointment as we all got up from our table and when the guys came over to get our numbers or invite us for an early breakfast, I was the only one who did not show any interest since the guy I wanted was gone. I politely declined the invitations even with my friends whining they wanted to go. I looked to my friend Tessa, the most practical one for back up on my decision to forego the breakfast invitations and she shot me a look that told me she also wanted to acquiesce to the guys' invitation. I nodded and smiled letting them know that I can get a cab home by myself and they all leaped up in excitement. Some of the guys were obviously disappointed that I wasn't going to join them, but I really had no desire to, not when the real Prince Charming I had hoped for has gone home and disappeared without telling me his name. He wasn't even my type since he was blonde, but there was something in those blue peepers. There was mystery, intelligence, sex, cruelty, kindness, dirty and noble, all at the same time. I was still a virgin but there was the man I was willing to give it up to, but he disappeared, like the bright, shining star that burnt out and was done, after this magical night where I thought I can have it all. I watched my friends walked out of the club, arm in arm with the guys and wondered momentarily if those guys were going to get lucky and get laid by my four pretty friends. I smiled at the nasty direction my thoughts went to and then, just when I thought I was all by myself to my own naughty self, Chad the bouncer came sidling up to me. "I have met you before this night." He said, pausing for effect, before saying, "in my dreams." I chuckled at the weakness of his pick up line, but was polite and responded in a very neutral way with, "Well, I will just have to consider that a high compliment. Thank you." To which he replied back with, "would you like me to walk you to your car?" and I requested him nicely to call me a cab, instead. He happily asked me to take a seat at the lobby/waiting area and went to the desk phone to call me a cab. While I sat down, expecting Chad the bouncer to come back out to flirt with me some more, a red Stingray pulled up at the curbside and out stepped my blonde Prince Charming. My eyes lit up at the sight of him as he walked towards where I was seated. He smiled at me and his hand extended as if I was a princess he was asking to dance. I gave my hand to him and got up as Chad came walking out of the club calling out to me and my mystery man. I looked back at Chad and mouthed thank you and goodbye as he stood there scratching his head. My prince charming opened the passenger side door as he said, "Madame?" and I got in saying thank you. He came around the car and hopped in and said, "Henry Lancaster. And you are?" He said the words in such determined yet playful manner. I gave him my name and he repeated it three times. "Isabeau Warner, Isabeau, Isabeau." And then he told me that my name stood for "fair child" or "handsome one". Adding that it was non-gender specific. I told him I knew, since it was my father who picked my name for me. He chuckled and told me that I was a smart aleck. I laughed at the comment he made. I added that Henry seemed too ordinary for him as a name to which he replied back, "O, but I am far from just ordinary, my dear Isabeau." And he started driving off, I know not where. We ended up at Thirteen Coins in the Airport strip and had breakfast and he introduced me to "fried ice cream". I recall that he ordered for me. I wasn't asked what I wanted to eat or drink. He took command of the moment and I didn't feel strange about it when under normal circumstances, I always insisted my parents hear me out, whatever the case may be. It was odd that I had allowed the decision to him. Perhaps, it was the way he confidently impressed himself to me. To this day, I don't know why, but it felt normal. But it was a foreboding of what's to come in our relationship.
I smiled at the memory of my first meeting with Henry. He was something else. He knew how to make an impression and make it last, that's for sure. I looked at my hands which were starting to prune and decided that my bath is over and got out. As I dried myself, I looked at my face in the bathroom mirror. I am fortunate to have my father's high cheekbones and his eyes. My father's eyes were huge and with lashes most women would envy. I even got his eyebrows which were full and unbelievably arched and tame like a woman's, except his was thicker and manly. I am also lucky or unlucky, dependant on what day it is to have been endowed with my mother's figure. My figure is waiflike but I have ample breasts and my buttocks are full and without any effort to diet, endowed with a very slim waistline. I have a body made for sex and made to wear sweaters and tight skirts. I am pleased often with the reaction I get from both men and women. Mostly men but at times, there is that arrogant, proud side of me that gets a thrill from the jealous look I get from my own gender. And it was that pride that made me peel off my black skirt and turned my backside to the two women in the lobby bathroom earlier, prior to my meeting with Dr. Brenner. I put my hair up in a pony tail and threw on my satin robe and headed to the kitchen. I just remembered I had not had anything to eat since this morning. I got some grapes out of the refrigerator and started to pop one fruit in my mouth at a time while going through my mail. I got several cards of sympathy from colleagues and friends and one from Melissa which is an announcement of her coming nuptial to Rob, one of the guys we met a long time ago in the same club I met Henry. That was when I remembered I had a scheduled fitting for my bridesmaid's dress tomorrow. I was glad I went through my mail or the appointment would have been completely forgotten by me. I was sure that it would have been Sara that would get married before anyone of us but it was Melissa. She, who said that Henry was a man and not like the boys in the club that fateful night, Sara was always the one who seemed more down to earth and was ready to settle down. Candy, on the other hand, was too free spirited to just get hitched and Tessa, she seemed determined to be a spinster, if that was even an ambition or goal a woman desires. Melissa will make a beautiful bride, nonetheless. I grabbed the bowl of grapes and walked to the couch and lied down, still reading some of my mail and setting the bowl of grapes on my coffee table. My eyes were tired and I set the mail down on the floor besides me and placed my arm on top of my eyes and slowly fell asleep.
A trail of stem less white rose buds floated in my dream. Some were covered with droplets of red and my body seems to float on top of the flowers. I was floating and following the trail which was endless. They were beautiful and tragic looking with the blood spatter on them. I kept floating until the roses seemed to have disappeared and only the traces of red were left. I floated over a casket and as my eyesight focused directly above the opening of the casket, Henry's face, his eyes closed, came to my view. He looked serene, as if he was only sleeping. Then he suddenly opened his eyes and he grinned at me. My heart stopped at the sight of him inside the coffin and then he winked at me. I was startled from my sleep with the dream and I sat up shivering even though it was at least seventy two degrees in my living room. This second wild dream I have had since his death doesn't scare me. They only puzzle me. It feels as though Henry is trying to tell me something. Sure, we had a very volatile and abnormal relationship near the end but we were never sinister towards one another. And if anything, I should be the one with much bitterness towards the relationship, not him. But Henry was very good in playing the victim at times. What if before he died, he had some unspoken and imagined hurt from our relationship I was not made aware of and there are certainly things about him he has never revealed to me. The prime example would be that he had family. Well, at least a half brother. So, at this time of puzzling and mysterious dreams, I now question if Henry is trying to frighten me or trying to tell me something. Perhaps I am overreacting since he has only been gone less than a week. I am sure it is quite normal dreams of him or even flashbacks of moments with him will dominate my mind for the time being. It isn't like a damn pair of shoes you suddenly ruined, tossed away and then completely forget what color they were after a day when you have already bought a different pair as replacement. Henry wasn't a pair of shoes. He meant something to me even if I wanted to shout to the rooftops that his death doesn't hurt me or affect me. Because the truth of the matter is, his death does hurt me. It pains me that I will no longer be able to bounce ideas or situation to him where I would find a kindred spirit laughing with me at how I handled them and how I have reacted. I don't have Henry anymore to tell me how unbelievably odd I am in handling things. And when he told me those things, they were not meant as a put down, they were meant to goad me more to a more extreme way or method. Henry was a pseudo sadistic mentalist who loved to puppeteer bold and brazen acts of abnormal. And I was a keen and apt student. We both have a thirst for mind games and we both excel in it. That was when my mind wandered to the idea of Chris Brenner, and my curiosity to whether the good doctor is capable of mentally challenging me the way his half brother did. Oh and how excellently Henry challenged me. He was almost my equal and my only advantage on him was that I was even better in playing the innocent than he can ever imagine. I out myself to him now and then, of course, but Henry was always left reeling at how intricate my role of an innocent and then blindsiding him to win our mind plays when I revert back to the vixen he adored. He loved it. And I wondered if Dr. Brenner will be a worthy foe or ally, whatever side he may end up in, if I took him on or introduced him to the environment I was accustomed to, with his half brother. I would have continued to reminisce about Henry if it weren't for my mobile phone beeping and announcing that I have a voice mail. I walked towards my kitchen counter and looked at my phone and the blue LED light indicated that, indeed, I have a message. I traced my security lock on the phone and tap the voicemail icon as I put it on speaker mode. I never listened to my voicemail in private and I always skip the prompts just going directly to visual voicemails. "Mi amor, I am on my way, I'm just leaving my pad now, I'll see you very soon, slick, around 6:30. Be naked when I get there." Henry's deep, husky and teasing voice came on! I whirled around so fast; I dropped the bowl of grapes on the couch and felt my knees wobbled a bit. How was that possible? My eyes shot straight at the wall clock and realized it was already 6:15 in the early evening. I tried to pick up the grapes that spilled out from the bowl when I heard the doorbell rang. I ran towards the door with a lump in my throat. My eyes gleamed with excitement as I breathlessly whispered, "Henry?" as my hand reached towards the lock.