Red – Exclusive Audio
a short story, originally posted on Medium
Have you ever lost someone you loved so much that it brought you to your knees whenever you heard their favorite song, smelled a lilac bush in May, or drank a particular brand of whiskey? Have you ever lost someone in time and space, not knowing if they were here or in the hereafter because the universe was cruel?
J.K. Mill of Exceptional Erotica on Medium.com gave me a Valentine’s Day prompt, and I chose to write ‘Red’ as the end of the choose-your-own-adventure story. When I wrote ‘Red,’ I was grieving a loss. I still am.
The amazing Laila Bell of the Sex Symbols podcast was kind enough to record this and bring these characters to life. Scroll down to hear the audio, and stick around afterward to hear the rest of their story.
-Olive
Cupid leads me down the dimly lit, vaguely grimy hallway toward an unassuming door. From the outside, everything looks normal. Doorframe, door, keycard reader, keycard. There’s nothing magical there. I wonder if I’ve been played, and the door jerks open. I take a deep breath, then gasp as if the wind has been knocked out of me.
He’s standing there in jeans, a white t-shirt, and the ugliest pair of camouflage Crocs I’ve ever seen. He runs a hand through his ginger hair, brushing it out of crystal blue eyes, and it’s like no time has passed at all. Smiling, he offers me his hand like a gentleman, like that scene at the end of Titanic.
I glance at Cupid, and he grins like a gameshow host. “Go on. This one is on the house,” Cupid says. He nudges me forward with his elbow, pushing me towards the man on the other side of the door. “Make it worth it, Red.”
I look inside the cheesy red suite, swallow my nerves like a handful of pills, and take his hand. He leads me into the room, closes the door behind me, and pulls me into his arms. I fold into his embrace, throwing my arms around him like a hundred times before.
“I’ve missed you,” I murmur into his neck, inhaling his familiar scent.
He always smelled like Calvin Klein’s Obsession, and the warm, woodsy aroma brings tears to my eyes. He wipes them away with the pad of his thumb, kissing my cheek. It’s been ages since I’ve felt his lips on my skin, and the tears fall freely. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I knew you’d say that,” he says, cupping my cheek in his large, warm palm. “I knew you’d say that.”