There could be no mistake. It must be him.
The same strange smile she always liked was there, in the corners of his mouth. She made one step forward, and remained there, as if trying to understand him, from a distance- where everything seemed quite safe.
- Pepper- he said in a sweet, almost far-away baritone, that vibrated through her soul, to the depths of her heart- you look so gorgeous!
- Oh, thank you, but you…I mean look at …! its you who look handsome! So changed..but..? how did you achieve this?- she was trying to express her amazement, but that seemed like a very hard task. He was so new!..
- This was quite easy you know- he smiled again and walked closer, with the same thought in his head- that he he liked it, when she was looking at him like that-and he wanted to keep her eyes on him, so he was going on with his little speech- just few years in the hands of the best physicists and this and that.- at this moment he was standing so close to her that only few steps remained between them- and please, - he added a bit quiter-call me Aldrich.
She shivered and looked into his eyes.
Oh, she really remembered all the time she spent with him years before; she was just a simple girl, with common ambitions and uncommon will- and Killian was her best friend then-sometimes she even thought, they were meant to be something more than that….
Sometimes.
But she always liked him, no doubt.
But now…he has changed. There still was that unique ray of sunshine in his eyes, but he became more stronger, more self-conscious, and oh, so very more beautiful.
- You are not pleased with something? – he said with strange notes of sadness in his voice, that rang through her soul - you look disappointed, Pepper.
- Oh, no Killian, I was just wondering if you are a human being at all.- she answered, trying to avoid his eyes.
- So you are pleased to see me?- he asked with a slight smile and a bit uncertainly- as if her answer would have meant a whole world to him.
Well, it did.
- Very much- she said and smiled.
- I was waiting for your smile 10 years- he said so simply and so sincerely that she just couldn`t help to make another step closer, and smile again.
She was mezmerised- by his influence, by that inmost power he owned. And she liked it.
- You came here to flirt with me, Killian?
He was not surprised by her question- even more, he was waiting for it.
Like he has seen it in his dreams before.
He remembered those dark October evenings, when he was staring out of the window, looking deep into the starlit skies, where he depictured all those precious moments he shared with Pepper. She was unique for him- like a Sun that overshines everything, when it is appearing on the horizont…on the horizont of Killian's life.
He closed his eyes, trying to breath in her amazing scent, remembering it, every little shade of her beauty.
- Are you ok, Aldrich?- she asked quietly and put her gentle hand on his shoulder.
- I am- he answered, smiling again with his mysterious smile, but with a new shade of bitterness. She called him Aldrich at last.. And that filled him with content to no end.
- We can have a cup of coffee before you..uh..before you will tell the reason you came here.- she laughed off her shyness and looked behind him, on the ancient clock that was hanging on the wall. It was almost dinner time. They could go somewhere. And do something pleasant, ust the two of them.
- Isn't it quite evident? I mean my presence?- he asked looking straight into her bright eyes which always made him to feel so real, and then shook his head, as if trying to say that they should forget his last words- café-latte with whipped cream and two sugar spoons?
- You still remember!-she clapped her hands and grabbed his without hesitation- let's go to the cafeteria, we have loads to talk about!
He just smiled back, thinking that he will go to the end of the world, if she wished so.
With her.
Together.