The Love Letter

Chapter Seven

I gently pushed the slightly open door until a part of the room and the cause of the strange sounds coming from within were revealed.

At first I wasn't able to process what unraveled before my eyes. But a few blinks time later an ice wave washed over me as my mind finally registered the sense of what was happening, of what I was seeing.

Greg's shirt, my fiancé Greg, was tore open on his chest, and long red fingernails were tracing his chiseled muscles. He was panting, and when the red nails reached the back of his neck, bronze tanned arms wrapped around it and he pressed his lips to... Megan's. Again.

My stupid smile from before froze on my face, turning into a grotesque grimace.

Megan's suit jacket and blouse were tossed on the couch they were standing next to and her hot pink lace bra was exposed. And her too-short grey skirt and Greg's black trousers would no doubt be gone soon, too. Bile rose in my throat, and I swallowed hard.

They were devouring each other. Greg's hands were prying all over her body, caressing and squeezing, as his mouth kissed and bit her lips, her neck, her bare shoulders, and then moved back on her lips.

My breath hitched. And my knees trembled. I was shaking all over.

"They... were... kissing..." I repeated inwardly but even my inner voice sounded out of breath and weak, just as I felt.

I took a painful deep breath that I felt slicing through my lungs, and stifled the sobs that were coming up.

And then the shock, the realization of what was happening shot through my body and brain like an electrical impulse and the true nightmare began.

The images flickered, changing into one another, intertwining, constantly shifting the scene in front of me, creating absolute chaos in my mind. A terrifying collage of past and present, here and now, then and there danced before my eyes, pinning me in place and sucking the remaining air out of my lungs. Greg and Megan were themselves then they weren't, they were replaced by the image of two teenagers, two ghosts from my past. But one thing remained the same... They. Were. Kissing.

My right hand rose on its own to my chest, resting just above my aching heart, trying to ease the pain, but instead of massaging the spot, my fingers brushed against the soft fabric of the scarf and I unconsciously wrapped them tightly around it, holding onto it so I wouldn't be swept away by the collision between present and past.

Greg's short black hair morphed into dirty blonde, a flash and went back to its normal state. The same thing happened with Megan's shoulder-length slick platinum blonde hair, which was instantly transformed into waist-length sleek chocolate brown waves. Greg's fair complexion changed to a natural light caramel tan, and Megan's fake tanned skin to a glowing olive skin. Their clothes were the next to flicker and change - from a ripped open white shirt to a dark green T-shirt, from black elegant trousers to white sports shorts, from polished formal shoes to white sneakers; from a short grey skirt, hot pink lace bra and impossibly high heels matching the bra to cheerleading uniform - sports top and pleated skirt in lavender and white, and white cheer socks and cheer shoes.

Greg now was devouring his blonde secretary, now was kissing timidly the teenage girl with chocolate brown hair. And Megan now was drinking the dark haired elegant Greg's lips, now was making out with a slightly shorter and well-built but slimmer teenager with dirty blonde hair and sportswear. And then my brain totally short-circuited because Greg was half him and half teenage boy of my past, and Megan was half her and half high school cheerleader.

Then the images began to change so quickly that my notions of reality and memories blurred. Until... the present faded and disappeared and in my mind and before my eyes a scene from the past appeared. A scene that had changed everything.