So Long You Pretty Thing

When Clair's day ended, she took the subway home as usual. The entire time she was thinking about how strange the new man at work was. The most unusual thing about him was how normal he appeared to be. It was obvious that he was trying to fit in, but Clair had an urge to know what made him have to try.

As she fumbled for the keys to her apartment, her hand pressed against a piece of folded paper. Written on the paper, there was a phone number. The handwriting was neat and clean, but the paper was wrinkled from being in her purse all day. She knew who the number belonged to in a matter of moment; it belonged to Liam.

Not sure what to do with the paper, she walked into the apartment and almost into her boyfriend. He had just come home from a business trip to Italy. He had almost never been home ever since he had taken the job to be the CEO of a corporation that specialized in sucking the soul out of everything that it touched. Clair had tried many times to get Adam to quit, but he actually enjoyed his job. Clair wished that she could know what an enjoyable job was like. Her job as a secretary was supposed to only be temporary, but it was lasting longer than she had wished.

Her dream ever since she was in high school was to be a lawyer. Her dreams had also included traveling the world, but learning the seven languages had been for not. The only use for them was to be Adam's personal translator. Not the best use, but it beat not speaking at all.

"Hey," Adam said as he leaned forward and placed his lips on hers.

Clair smiled at him before shoving the paper back into her black, leather purse. Adam was of Asian descent with jet black hair and dark brown eyes. His outfit usually consisted of jeans and a t-shirt whenever he was home, but his section of the closet was made up of suits that he kept in the best condition as possible.

"Hey," Clair smiled as she walked toward the bedroom.

"I'm making dinner tonight," Adam called as Clair closed the door behind her.

"Just try not burn the city down," Clair replied.

When she entered the bedroom, Clair changed from her black skirt and rose blouse into sweatpants and a t-shirt. Her eyes wandered over to her laptop that was sitting, open, on her dresser. There was an impulse inside of her to type in his name, but she thought that would be too stalkerish.

Instead, she picked up her phone, and added his number to the contact list. There was most likely nothing that made him any different from a normal person, and she thought she was overreacting. She walked to her bed, collapsed onto it and took out the book that she was reading. Almost as soon as she picked up the book, she became sucked in, and after an hour, she had flipped through 100 pages.

"Come on then," Adam called to her.

Clair ran her fingers through her hair before closing her book and looking one last time at the purple laptop on her desk.

She walked into the kitchen/dining room not expecting what was going to happen next. Adam stood next to the table that was being lit by candle light. Clair raised an eyebrow with suspicion as she sat down. Adam smiled at her for what felt like the first time in years. He was around so little that the only time that he was mostly asleep when he was home. Still, she really did care for him, and that was what she thought mattered. It was better than what her parents had done for each other.

"What's this for then?" Clair asked.

"Someone very special," Adam smiled as tilted his head to look at her.

Clair felt her heart flip inside her chest as she realized that he was moving toward her. This is not happening, Clair thought to herself as Adam came down on one knee.

"Don't," Clair warned as Adam asked a question.

"Clair, will you marry me?" These same used had been used so many times throughout history. They had brought civilizations together, and they also had torn them apart.

So many thoughts rushed through Clair's mind, that she began to feel light-headed. The only word that came to mind was the one that she spoke, "No."

The look on Adam's face was enough to make Clair cringe. "What?" His voice was heart-broken, and Clair did something in that moment that was a pivotal point in history. The sympathetic side of her had been worn down, but it chose to come out in this moment.

"I mean, of course," Clair smiled at him, but as soon as he looked away, she palmed her face.