Short Story: Kiss Me Goodbye

“We’ll never meet again,” she said without hesitation.

She put on her white dress, looking perfectly innocent, and looked back at his naked body. He was still lying on the mattress, covered only by a thin white but dirty sheet. His eyes were examining her body - the way it moved, the way she walked, the way she talked. Despite the dress he could still see her nipples from under the cloth. He wished to stand up, hold her in his arms, feel the scent of her hair and the warmth on her skin. But there he stood lying and just admiring.

“You say this every time,” he said

“Now I mean it.”

“I’ve heard that too before.”

She fastened her hair into a pony-tail and started looking for her shoes. She appeared like a little girl that has got lost in the big wild world. But she had no fear of the world; there was a sparkle in her eyes every time she came to him that reminded of some hidden beauty and courage.

For the very fact she was there showed her courage.

She had no business with him. She was the Little Red Riding Hood, and he was the Bad Wolf. She had to be careful. And that’s why she always promised never to come back. Every time.

But she always did.

He lit a cigarette and stood up.

“What are you looking for?” he asked with amusement.

“A way out.”

“It’s not like I’m keeping you here.”

She found a shoe and didn’t answer. She threw a pair of pants at him and made a gesture so as to show him to cover himself.

“I’m not ashamed of you, beauty” he said.

“But I am.”

“Of me or of yourself?”

She turned to face him. She already had the two shoes in her hands but wouldn’t put them on.

“I won’t come back this time.”

“Why should I believe you?” he asked. “What’s so different this time?”

She didn’t answer; she didn’t want to answer; she couldn’t answer.

She headed for the door but stopped suddenly.

“Will you kiss me goodbye?” she asked.

“I never kiss you goodbye.”

“It has never been a goodbye before.”

“Fine then,” he moved slowly toward her, “but I never just kiss you, do I? A kiss is never enough. I would kiss you, and then I would touch you, and then I would hold you, and then you wouldn’t be needing your shoes anymore.”

He said every word separately putting emphasis on each of them as he curled her hair around his fingers.

“I should go,” she said. “Goodbye.”

She left and he was just as surprised by her departure as he was when she first came. He stood motionlessly for a few moments staring at the door behind her, knowing something had changed.

“She’ll come back,” he whispered and went back to bed, waiting.

         She never did.