~ We Are (Purpose)

known Harold for a long time, longer than possible. A night lost from my memory had returned while I was sleeping and I was bombarded with reconciliations of divine events I'd missed out on.

The problem was Harold. He shouldn't look the exact way he did back in 1924. His skin should be wrinkled, his eyes worn out and his body weakened. Even worse, he should be dead.

But he wasn't.

He was alive and well and still as gorgeous as he'd been back then.

When the thunder struck the room and brought us both into a deep sleep in my dreams, I thought that maybe we'd awaken soon. However, I was snapped back into the real world before I could see any more of what happened.

What was terrible about the memory coming back is knowing just how much time we'd lost. We'd been right there in front of each other, ready to fall in love. I guess our paths weren't destined to cross, because if they were, what had happened wouldn't have happened.

There was no reason for us to have been torn from each other's side. There was no reason for us to not have gotten together. We should've fallen in love, gotten married and started a small family of our own.

But it didn't happen.

It didn't happen.

And as I sat in my car, parked in the parking lot of Ethereal, I had an epiphany. Maybe the reason it all happened, the reason it all fell apart so quickly, was because we're not meant to be. Maybe we would've been just wasting each other's time. And now that we're actually together, maybe we truly are wasting our time.

I took in a deep breath, knowing that it's better I do this now rather than later. After locking my car, I walked inside the restaurant, clamping all m senses closed to disregard the memories of us from swarming in. I made a beeline for Harold's office on the second floor, my heart racing as I imagined how he would react to me.

My feet halted in front of his door. I slowly knocked, finding it rude to just burst into his office.

"Come in!" He yelled, his voice hushed by the walls and the door that seperated us.

I swallowed hard, conjuring up as much motivation as I could before opening the door and stepping inside. I locked the door quickly, turning to face Harold with a different set of eyes. He wasn't the man that I've known for the past four months. He was much more than that.

The smile that split his lips was so much more beautiful today and the way he strutted towards me with open arms almost snapped my knees from underneath me. "What a nice surprise," he said, wrapping his arms around me and bringing me into a tight hug.

I took in his alluring scent before lightly pushing him away. "There's something I need to ask you."

He arched his eyebrows, but didn't really ask any questions. Instead, he nodded and gestured for me to sit. "Anything for you, love."

My breathing heightened as I watched him take the seat in front of me. "I had a dream last night, a really beautiful yet confusing dream. It brought up a memory that I didn't know I'd lost."

He looked confused as he listened to me. "What does is consist of, this memory?"

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath of encouragement before opening my eyes and letting it all out. "It's of you and I. It was back in 1924. I don't know if you remember, but we were at a famous mask party. We saw each other from across the room and instantly connected. We moved to a room to talk privately, but before anything more could happen, we were struck by lightning. Well, technically, the room was struck, but it affected us anyway. It knocked us into unconsciousness and that was all I remember. I think that's why we've lived this long. I've always tried to understand why I never aged. I thought that I was cursed, cursed to never love, cursed to never grow old with the ones that I love, cursed to never live life to the fullest. But now, now I understand. It was fate all along and you and I were meant to be. We lived for hundreds of years, but never understood the meaning of life. Regardless, we found our way back to each other. Through all the other relationships, the hardships and the delights, we found each other again."

Bewilderment struck Harold's eyes and he looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "What are you talking about, Adele?"

I blinked. "You...you've lived for hundreds of years, right?"

His lips parted and he looked ready to just come out and accuse me of going mad. But he didn't. He didn't speak for a while, a while that felt too long. Doubt found its way into my thoughts, meddling with all of the things I'd deemed true. Then, he spoke, building and breaking me at the same time. "Yes, I have. But I don't know about the rest of your story, Adele. I didn't know you until we met that day in the elevator. I don't remember the party or you or anything else. To be honest, I don't really remember much of 1924."

Perplexed, I stared at him. "So, you don't remember anything?"

He shook his head, looking apologetic and alarmed at the same time. "No, I don't. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," I whispered, not trusting my voice as I fought to keep the tears at bay, "you've done nothing wrong."

He sighed, getting up and take the seat right next to me. Wrapping his arms around my shoulder, he used his finger to turn my head so that I would meet his gaze. "Are you okay, love?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm just saying. What if it was just a dream?"

I scoffed. "I know what I saw and what I remember, Harry. It was so vivid and I know that it's true."

He looked away, looking unsure. "I just think that if it were true, I would remember it as well."

"Maybe it'll come to you after a while," I suggested.

Looking sure that what I said would not happen, he let go of my shoulder and grabbed my hands. "If it does, great. But it hasn't, so for the time being, how about we leave it alone and grab something for lunch?"

My eyes widened at his words. "It's not something I can just forget, Harry. Do you not understand how big this is? You've been alive as long as I have. That's amazingly crazy. And to know that I've known you for all this time is just another plus. I can't just leave it alone."

He let out a long breath. "Then what are we supposed to do? It's not like I can talk about something I don't know of."

I shrugged, realizing for the first time today that maybe I am crazy. Maybe my mind made all of this up. But it had seemed so real, so true. There was no way it was fake. "Maybe we should just take a break for the time being." God, how much it hurt to say those words. It was as though an arrow was shot into my heart as I verbalized each word.

He blinked slowly, bafflement crossing his features. "What? No. We can get through this. Don't do this," he pleaded, tightly gripping my hands.

I shook my head slowly, removing my hands from his. "I'm not breaking up with you, Harry. I just need some time to really think this through. This is such a big part of our relationship and you don't even remember it. I think we both deserve the time without each other to really understand what's going on."

"Baby," he whispered, the torment that ran through his veins evident in his tone, as I stood to leave, "don't do this."

He sat there, watching me with agonized eyes as I walked to his door. I gave him a rueful look, wishing he could understand where I was coming from. "I have to. We both need this."

Before he could say anything more, I turned fast and walked out of his office. I ran out of the restaurant, trying to avoid any eyes from catching the tears that were flowing freely down my cheeks.

How could this have happened?