Last Kiss

Chapter 38: Empire on Fire

As I drifted off into sleep, I felt the weight of the day slowly lifting from my shoulders. The events of the summer seemed to blur together, merging into a hazy dreamscape. And there he was, Conrad, his presence looming large in my subconscious mind.

In the dream, I found myself standing on the edge of the cliff, the ocean waves crashing below. The salty breeze whipped through my hair, and I felt a sense of both exhilaration and apprehension. Conrad stood beside me, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he said, his voice soft yet full of depth.

I nodded, unable to tear my eyes away from the endless expanse of blue before us. But beneath the surface, I could sense a tension lingering between us, an unspoken truth waiting to be acknowledged.

"Conrad, I..." I began, but before I could finish my sentence, he turned to face me, his expression unreadable.

"Belly," he said, his voice a whisper against the roar of the ocean. "There's something I need to tell you."

My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for him to continue. But instead of speaking, he reached out and gently took my hand in his, his touch sending shivers down my spine.

"I've always admired you, Belly," he said, his eyes searching mine for any sign of understanding. "You're strong, independent, everything I've ever wanted."

I felt a rush of emotion welling up inside me, a mixture of joy and fear, longing and uncertainty. Could this really be happening? Could Conrad actually feel the same way about me as I did about him?

But just as quickly as the moment had come, it began to slip away, fading into the ether like a fleeting dream. I reached out desperately, trying to hold onto it, to hold onto him. But no matter how hard I tried, he slipped through my fingers like grains of sand, leaving me alone on the edge of the cliff, the ocean roaring below.

I woke with a start, my heart racing and my mind still reeling from the intensity of the dream. Conrad's words echoed in my ears, a bittersweet reminder of what could have been. And as I lay there in the darkness, I couldn't help but wonder if dreams were nothing more than a reflection of our deepest desires, or if they held the power to shape our reality in ways we couldn't even begin to imagine.