My Lost Love

Chapter 15 - Tresspasser

  One has to be incredibly brave to fall in love with their best friend.  Because if they reject you, who will you run to?  I just prayed I would make it out of the hole alive.

     When I opened the door to Michael's condo, the first thing my eyes locked on was a giggling Michella sitting up on the couch.  Michael was giving her something to laugh at as he danced around making funny faces.  He kicked his right leg in the air and smoothly turned 90 degrees to his left.  His hands fell into his pocket as an invisible force began pulling him back as he tried to walk forward.  It was an incredible illusion I had seen maybe once or twice on television but never before my eyes. 

     Michella thought it was the funniest thing in the world.  At eight months, she was the silliest baby.  She laughed at everything and I loved it.  That giggle was Mozart to my ears.

     "Woah. What was that?" I asked catching his attention.

     "Something I've been working on.  I saw some kids doing it."  He attempted it again.  "I'm getting better at it.  I had Caszper and Cooley teach me."  They were dancers and choreographers from Soul Train.

     "It gets better than that?"

     "I want it as smooth as possible.  And I want to extend the duration of it."

     Michella looked gapingly at Michael as he tried again and again, spinning back and forth.  "Da!" she exclaimed with a fist pump. 

     I shook my head and laughed.  "You two are silly." I couldn't hold out any longer.  I brought Michella into my arms and began nibbling on her soft round mounds that were her cheeks.  "When will the house be ready?" I asked Michael in between bites.

     "In a few months I guess."  He was pop-locking now.

     "I'm excited.  It feels weird having no one across the street to run to."

      Michael began distorting his face again, zooming in and out of her bright amused eyes.  "Ellie, Ellie?" he called grabbing her attention.  "Look."  His two hands clapped together.  "Show mommy."

     Still gaping with drool tricking from the corner of her mouth, she clapped her small hands with him, her hands missing each other a few times.  "Oh, baby!" I said giving her a big kiss.  It was a first for me to see.  "Aww, Michael."  As I looked into his glowing eyes which were fixated on my daughter, my love began shifting again.  I handed her off to him.  "I'll be right back." 

     I ran to the bathroom as if I had to badly pee.  But all I really needed to let out let out were my foolish tears.  I hated this feeling.  It was still too foreign and I couldn't adjust.  It was evident Michael would never look at me as anything more than his best friend.  But I couldn't shake my growing feelings for him.

     My fingers swiped my tears sideways, only changing the direction of their fall. I just couldn't stop.  I looked back at the sad girl in the mirror.  The one with pathetic lines wrinkling her forehead.  Is this real?  Have I really gone that far out of the zone?  Stepping into the trenches of his love, a place I was forbidden to be...

     "Oh, Michael!  She's so cute!"  The sound of a woman's voice broke into my thoughts and steered my attention away from the strange feelings of my heart.  Quickly, I wiped away my tears and splashed cold water on my face.  With a dab or two of a hand towel, I was back to smiling.  I walked out of the bathroom to see a girl fingering Michella's cheek.  My view of her was blocked by Michael's head until he swayed off to the side when he heard me coming.