The autumn wind chilled Harold to the bone, he sat on the edge of a roof top overlooking Manhattan. He listened to the hum of the city and the whistle of the rain. He thought about the thousands of people below him, those hurrying home, those out for the night. They all had one thing in common. They didn't know what Harold knew. They were all being watched and so he was he. He built the most power weapon in the world. It spied on everyone. But somewhere in the streets below was the woman he loved and lost. He carefully took out a crumpled picture and held it in his hands. The wind pulled at its corners and wisped it out his hands. He looked down at it and let a tear drop from his eye. She was gone. Alive, but gone. He looked up and took a deep breath; they'd had a beautiful life together. Everything was beautiful. They were happy, then it was all torn away from him. Harold watched her come into the makeshift hospital looking for him. He made a decision that moment to keep her safe, and the only way to do that was to leave her. He'd watched her pick up the book and cry. It ended before it even started. He regretted that decision; nothing mattered anymore. He wasn't even feeling the wind anymore.

'Please don't jump.'

Harold didn't turn around.

'It's not your decision to make.' He said quietly. He wanted to be alone.

The figure came and sat beside him.

'Please leave me alone.'

Harold glanced a look at the man beside him; a younger man with black hair turning silver in a few places. He had tanned skin and looked in good shape. His eyes were unreadable – Harold knew this man had seen some bad things. They sat in silence for ages, the figure then turned to Harold.

'I'm John.'

'Harold.'

'Why are you up here Harold?'

'Because I like it, now please leave.'

'I was in Mexico a few years ago; I lived there with this girl for a few months. I loved her, Jessica her name was. I was then posted abroad in a war zone and the next time I saw her was in an airport. She got engaged. She turned to me and 'tell me to wait and I will' and I couldn't bring myself to tell her. I didn't think she'd be happy with him. I've seen and done some horrible things, very horrible things in deed because I thought I was right. I travelled the world looking for a place where I fitted in, it was only when I learned of Jessica's death that I realised it was with her. I threw it away.'

Harold didn't know what to say.

'My world changed that day. It's grey to me now and has no feeling. So I travelled further and did even worse things trying to comprehend what had happened and what I'd done. The world was still grey. I saw beautiful countryside and views, none of it mattered.'

Harold climbed down onto the roof and walked around a little, John stood and looked at him.

'You remind me of one of my teachers at school. Mr Wilson his name was, he taught maths. I hated it. Numbers weren't my thing. But he made it interesting, people wanted to learn around him. And one day he was gunned down outside school by a student's parent. It was messy.'

'Why are you telling me all this?' Harold grew angrier. 'I want you to leave.'

John sprung forward and grabbed Harold's collar and pulled him to the edge. Harold was terrified. John held him there, a clear view of the city below.

'You're too scared to jump. What are you scared of?'

Harold continued to scare, wide eyed over the city below. 'I… I… I don't know what happens after?'

'Does it have anything to do with her? You're friend, the red head?'

'How do you know about her?'

John released Harold from his grasp and took a picture out the inside jacket of his pocket. 'I found this on the sidewalk; I looked up and saw you sat there.'

Harold took the picture and looked at it. It was the one he dropped.

'What happened to her?' asked John quietly.

'He thinks I'm head. I built a powerful machine and the people I built it for tried to kill me and someone else. I pretended to die to keep her safe. I don't want them hurting her.' He paused and sniffed back the tears. 'Her name's Grace. We met in Central Park, we were engaged. I lost her because I was selfish. She was my world.'

'You want to end it?'

Harold stood at the edge again, the wind rustled his hair.

'I wanted the feelings to stop. Every minute, day and night, I have this pain in my heart. It hurts. It's the selfishness, it's the regret, it's the lost love. I built a weapon, and I chose it over her. What kind of decision is that? She was the only thing that ever mattered to me and I. chose. It.'

'And you think ending it will make it stop?'

'It has to.'

'It doesn't. The pain won't stop, you won't feel it anymore but you'll hurt Grace.'

'She thinks I'm dead.'

'Then what happens when she finds out you survived and chose to jump? Eh? What happens then?'

'I don't know.' It was barely a whisper.

'I don't know Grace, but she is strong and special. She hasn't jumped or done anything similar Harold, she is living on.' He paused. 'That maths teacher I spoke about, he said one thing to me and I'll always remember it. When everything is over, when the worst has happened, there's still one thing left in Pandora's box: hope. Hope still lives Harold. Grace still hopes for a better tomorrow, and you should to. Tomorrow is a brand new beginning where anything could happen, you just gotta take it.'

John patted Harold's shoulder and walked away. Harold turned around.

'John.'

John stopped in his tracks.

'You honestly think tomorrow will be better?'

'Yes I do.'

Harold let John walk away. He turned back around and watched the city again, and this time, he noticed the colours of the lights, the sound of joyous laughing and shouting. John was right. The world was bright and the world was beautiful.