Him
T HE PROFESSOR WAS PACING .
But because it was a fairly small room, and the professor was long-legged, it only took him two seconds to span its length before he had to turn around and walk the other way. From the other side of the room, his best man watched in amused silence, having never seen the aloof and worldly professor display such tension.
"Nervous?" Ryder asked finally.
"Fuck yes."
Ryder laughed, thinking that the days when Matthijs kept his emotions to himself were truly gone indeed. "Diana's really gotten you wrapped around her finger, hasn't she?"
"I'll have my fingers wrapped around her neck," the professor muttered under his breath, "if she even thinks of standing me up today."
"She won't." Matthijs' best man stood up and clapped a hand over his back. "So relax. You got this." He started for the door. "I'll leave you to pray."
"Who says I'm going to pray?"
"You have five minutes," Ryder said simply, "and then I'll come back and get you."
The door closed behind the other man, and Matthijs was left alone in the tiny room behind the altar.
Now what?
Matthijs stared at the crucifix hanging on the wall.
I've already thanked You.
What else is there to stay?
He waited and waited.
But he heard nothing, no voice coming from the sky, no white dove flying down.
Nothing.
This was stupid , the professor thought.
But just as he turned away, he felt it. A familiar sensation, an embrace that he had known and cherished, once upon a time.
Matthijs.
It was his blue-eyed beauty, the girl he once loved...and lost forever.
His eyes squeezed shut.
'I'm sorry.'
There's nothing to be sorry for. You didn't kill me.
'But if I hadn't hurt you...'
You did hurt me. But that's all. You hurt me, and I forgive you. I've forgiven you a long time ago, and I've been trying to tell you so many times. You just couldn't hear me.
And after that, he could've sworn he heard her sigh wistfully, could've sworn he felt her fingers touch a lock of his hair, the way she used to.
Are you happy?
He slowly nodded.
I'm glad. That's all I've ever wanted.
His throat tightened, and as he felt her fading away, he heard himself whisper in his mind.
' Chandra.'
What is it?
'If I had known you wanted flowers that badly, I'd have bought you a fucking farm from the start.'
Her laughter played in the air.
Be happy, Matthijs.