Time

   It's time that betrays us. Seconds passing the same numbered streets that hours lived on before. We're getting older, watching the sands run through our fingers. Some fires burn out in time, some grow with every breath they're given. Everything seems to slow down, except time.  

  

   "Ask me what I did yesterday."

   She's twisting a strand of hair around her finger, I wonder if she even realizes it. That's one thing time hasn't seemed to touch though, she is still every bit as beautiful as I remember her. Maybe there's another line or two in her face, maybe her words have gotten a little more bitter, but I still can't look away.

  

   "What'd you do yesterday?"

    "I dyed my hair, haven't you noticed?"

  I hadn't even looked, I felt like a kidnapping victim who was blindfolded and brought into her innermost chambers. How could I see the surface, when the well is this deep? I look now, realizing that she wanted me to know she'd changed. She stops twisting, turning her gaze toward me.

   "I've missed you since.."

  

   Her voice trailed off, she does that when she doesn't want to take the conversation down the path it would go. I took the hint and let it slide. She was wearing makeup. I'm sure she always did, but this time I could tell, she was trying to make this reunion meet her expectations. We both were. Neither of us wanted to sour it with questions, but we were both drowning in them. I decided to take the plunge first.

   "I didn't mean to stay gone, you know." 

  

   "But you did."

   "So did you."

  

   Ever tried to fix something that was so broken, you knew it was one small mistake away from being lost forever? This is that turning point in the conversation, we either answer for our sins, or ignore them. I kissed her on the cheek.

   "You deserved it."

  

   It was a low blow, but I had waited years to say these words.

   "You deserved to lose me, you had already left me long before then. You burned me, and I burned you, and here we are."

  

   She smiled a little, kissed me back on the lips.

   "We've got the room 'til ten, let's make the most of it."

  

   Time again, always waiting around the corner to remind you of all the things you never did. We were wiser then, when we ignored it passing. Some fires burn out over time, some are fed by her, this kind of fire though, it just sustained itself quietly. Like an ember in a pile of ash, it only took the slightest encouragement to bring forth a flame greater than it had ever been.