Michael stood on the beach in front of his Baja home.
A beer was gripped tightly in his hands as he stared at the water. His eyes hardened and his grip tightened as another memory flashed through his mind.
Sometimes he wondered if coming here wasn't a mistake. After the two months of being holed up in a hotel room, only allowing his brother entrance, Michael had moved to his dream paradise.
But it was as bad as Panama had turned out to be. Both placed lacked the actual element to make them that long lusted after 'paradise'.
The cost of his freedom from Sona had been her life. Not once had he considered the outcome worth the price.
And now he stood, alone and broken. In the home he had dreamed of sharing with her.
He finished the warm beer in a single swing then let it fall to the sand. He closed his eyes and allowed the warmth of the alcoholic to spread throughout his body.
He was almost there, he realized. Almost to the point where he could smell her again, almost to the state where he could dream of her and actually believe it.
Michael turned and headed back into his home. His fridge was filled with a verity of drinks, he blindly reached in and took one. Yanking off the cap he continued to his room, dropped into the bed and swallowed.
He closed his eyes sucked in a breath then smiled. She was there, right next to him, laying with her hand on his chest, her face curled into his neck. She was whispering something…so softly Michael couldn't hear. He tilted the drink to his lips…her words becoming clear.
"I miss you,"
Another mouth full of a burning liquid.
"I miss you Michael."
Michael filled his mouth again then laid his head on his pillow, savoring the feeling of her fingers stroking his chest.
It was the last thing he felt as the last of the liquid slide down his throat…sending him completely into oblivion.