Dinner

Michael opened the door of his apartment for Sara. Not wanting to relive the awkward moment at the restaurant with her friends when he didn't know how they were supposed to say hi to each other, he decided to welcome her with a smile and simply let her in. She had changed since he last saw her in the morning. She was now wearing jeans and a black sweater. She was free of make up and her hair was in a ponytail. How did she manage to always be so gorgeous? He wanted to kiss her. Badly. But he wasn't sure they were there yet so he continued to look at her and smile.

"Here." Sara handed him a paper bag. "I know you told me you were going to take care of everything but…" She was suddenly a little embarrassed by her bold choice.

"Thank you." Michael looked inside the bag and she saw his eyes get bigger and a smile form on his lips. "Hum, I see", was all he said before going to the kitchen where he put the two ice cream containers in the freezer. From the kitchen, he asked: "What can I offer you to drink? I have wine, beer, San Pellegrino…"

"You know what? I think I'd rather have something without alcohol tonight. I am already tired; I don't want to fall asleep before the end of our meal!"

"Tired? Didn't get enough sleep last night?!" Michael wasn't sure how to greet her when she entered his apartment but he sure knew how to tease her!

Sara rolled her eyes at his sassy comments. "I meant that I worked all week and worked all day today as well, without much of a break." She saw his now innocent expression and could only smile before answering his initial question: "San Pellegrino would be great, thank you."

Michael handed her a glass and asked: "Are you hungry?"
"Starving!"

"Let's start then!"

Sara saw that the table was already set on his kitchen island. She sat on one of the high stools as he took from the fridge two plates that he had already prepared as appetizers. Michael inquired about her day, they talked about one patient or the other then moved to other topics of conversation, the flow never stopping. The main course was filet mignon with a mix of vegetables that had cooked in the oven with some herbs.

"Michael, this is absolutely delicious!" she said between two bites. "Seriously, can you tell me how come you're not already married?!" She meant the question as a joke but instantly remembered her list of questions "not to ask on a first date but that you would like to know the answer to" and looked at him with a more serious expression than initially planned.

"Ha," he started. He immediately thought about her list as well and wasn't sure how to answer her. "I guess I was never in a position where it was an option." He looked at her, uncertain how his sentence had been perceived so he continued: "My latest girlfriend, well, we fortunately broke up before I could even think about it."

"Fortunately?!"

"Yeah, it would have been a mistake."

"Why?"

"That's hard to answer briefly. We were not right for each other. Let's just say that we shouldn't have stayed together that long."

"What made you realize that?"
"When I discovered that she was cheating on me?" Michael thought it was weird talking about his ex-girlfriend to Sara, which explained his hesitant answer.

"Oh, that's never good!" Sara tried to lighten the mood, aware that her initial question had led the conversation to something more profound than anticipated.

"Believe me, that wasn't good at all!"

His tone was clearly sarcastic and Sara now wanted him to continue: "What happened?"

"Well, I was new at the firm and I was working crazy hours trying to make a name for myself and finally I had been able to finish work early so I decided to surprise her…" Michael scratched the back of his head, thinking of how ridiculous the story was. "We didn't live together. She was often away for work but I had a key to her apartment and hum, I… I found her with someone else…"

"You mean WITH someone else?!"
"Yep."

"No!"

"Oh yeah. It took me a long time to erase the image from my memory!"

Sara couldn't help it, she started laughing. "I'm sorry, Michael. I know it's not funny…" She didn't finish as laughter took over.

Michael waited for her to calm down before stating: "Well, it's kind of funny actually. You would think it's a scenario coming directly from a bad romantic comedy!"

"A very bad romantic comedy! More seriously, did she break your heart?"

"No, I wouldn't say that."

"No?"

"After much introspection, I came to the realization that I loved the idea of her, of us. But that I didn't love her. Not really. She did break my trust though. As well as my self-esteem."

"What happened to her and the guy she was with, if you don't mind me asking?"

"No, it's okay. I'm okay now. They got married and last time I heard they were expecting a child."

"Wow!"

"I know, right? At least something good came out of that fiasco!" Michael chuckled a little bit before adding: "My brother never liked her. I guess he saw something that I couldn't."

"Maybe, yeah." Sara felt bad for Michael but she was even more curious. "When was that then?"

"About three years ago, I would say."

"You're telling me that you've been single for the last three years?"
"Well, I went on a few dates. I'm not that pathetic!" Michael looked up and met Sara's eyes. She was smiling at him. He continued with a smile of his own: "I was regularly forced on blind dates either by some of my colleagues or by my brother but it never worked out. My brother even tried to set me up with a woman while we were in Costa Rica! He thought that if he could meet his girlfriend in there maybe I could too."

"And?"

"We had a great time!"

His answer sounded sincere, which confused Sara. "But…?"

"But there was something missing, you know? The little spark?" He looked Sara in the eyes again, hoping she would get the underlying message. "We've become friends since. I usually see her every time I go there."

"How often do you go there?"

"Once or twice a year. I own a house there actually!"

"You do?!"

"My brother often goes there for his job so he eventually bought a house. I used to stay with him when I visited but when he met his girlfriend I decided that I wanted my own place."

"Why? Were they loud?!"

"You could say that!" He laughed and Sara joined him. "My nephew regularly crashes at my place when I'm there… So yeah, I bought a house, nothing fancy but I like it." Michael suddenly got up and moved to the living room where he showed her a large frame with a picture of a beach, white sand and palm trees: "This is the view from my front porch." Michael wasn't one to brag about anything but he particularly liked the view from his house in Costa Rica.

"Wow!" Sara couldn't detach her gaze from the picture. It looked like a post card. Everything about it was perfect, the colours, the light. "I'm surprised that you can leave this place. It's beautiful!" She looked at Michael and noticed that he was now closer and staring at her, with a smile on his lips. He thought she was beautiful. She became self-conscious, feeling her cheeks becoming a little hot suddenly, and decided to talk to mask her nervousness: "What do you do when you're here then?"
He sat down and answered: "I have found someone to look after the house. He's a university student there. I met him when he was in high school and my house is closer to the campus than where his family lives so it makes sense. He has a place to live and study (he has a LARGE family so I think he enjoys the quiet) and I have a person to make sure that my house is taken care of. He visits his family when I'm in town. It's a win-win situation, really." He finished his explanation with a proud smile.

"When is the last time you went there?"

"Last summer. I spent two weeks."

"What do you do when you're there and not going on blind dates then?" A little bit of teasing wouldn't hurt, would it, she thought.

"Hahaha! I volunteer for an NGO that helps build or renovate schools. That's how I met Chaco, the young man looking after my house. It was his summer job. They always have a new project and I help them in any capacity I can. I relax too, don't worry. But enough about me! Where did you go when you last left the city?"

"I went to Haiti a few months ago."

"Oh!" Her answer clearly surprised him. "I bet you didn't go for the beaches…"

"No, I went with Doctors without Borders. There's so much to be done there. I've never worked in conditions like these, no running water, sometimes no electricity. But somebody has to do it, right?"

"Yeah, yeah", Michael answered, pensive. She sure wasn't your typical rich girl, he thought. He looked at her again and his eyes fell on her lips. He thought again about kissing her but he didn't dare to. He clearly remembered the night they spent together but he also had in mind that they parted in front of her building in the morning with a simple "good bye" and no kiss. Hence, his hesitation to do anything, even if he desperately wanted to. On top of things, they were in the middle of their meal and he wasn't sure if it was the right moment. He was evidently overthinking things but couldn't help it. He opted to continue the conversation in an attempt to distract him from his increasing desire. "So, any former boyfriend stories that you would like to share?" It was his turn to be curious. She did not hesitate to question him so it was only fair that he returned the favor.

"Well, my last long relationship, we met when we were in Med school and we were still together when we started at the hospital..."

"Why didn't it work out?"

"We had different priorities."

"About…?"

"In short, he wanted me to quit working so that we could start a family?"
"What?!" His eyes were big. He was incredulous. "How could someone ask you that? I mean, you didn't go through Med school just for the fun of it."
"Exactly! So, yeah, needless to say, we broke up…"

"I'm sure you broke his heart: He probably had already planned having you as his trophy wife!"

His sarcastic tone wasn't lost on Sara who played along with him: "Right. Because it's always been my dream! I'm sure you're dying to be somebody's trophy husband!" She was staring at him with a challenging look.

"Oh absolutely! But only if it's the right wife!" Michael looked at Sara, never breaking eye contact. "More seriously, I would probably miss work. I think that I would be bored out of my mind, waiting for my 15 minutes to shine as a trophy husband…" He finished with a small chuckle and decided to continue interrogating her: "So, besides Mister "I want a housewife", anyone worth mentioning?"

"I dated a few men but it quickly became apparent that most of them were only interested in me to advance their own career, using me to get to my father. So, to answer your question, no, no one worth mentioning…"

"Really? I have a hard time believing that you are not asked out on a date every day."
"You would be surprised!" She giggled at her own answer, considering of her rather inexistent love life.

Michael was surprised, she was right. How could a woman like her be single? She was perfect! Absolutely perfect. He wanted to tell her that they were all idiots, that he loved that she was a physician, that she was funny and beautiful and that he would have been really disappointed if she had been taken when he met her. This time, he decided that he wasn't going to hold back. He got back up and slowly closed the gap between them to connect his lips with hers. He only intended to give her a short kiss but Sara quickly reacted to his move, standing up and locking her hands behind his neck, while she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss. Michael's hands found their way to her waist and held her close the whole time. A phone ring broke the spell (and their kiss). Michael regretfully untangled himself from Sara and checked his phone. "Sorry, my brother… I'm sure he's going to leave a message." He had a shy smile which Sara returned and she replaced a piece of hair that had fallen on her face. He put the phone back on the counter.

"Aren't you going to listen to the message?"

"Later", he mumbled. His brother always had a perfect sense of timing! "Ready for dessert?" He had forgotten that she had had the same idea as him and he blushed when he remembered it. "Hum, I think that we're going to be okay for dessert…" He opened the freezer and showed her the four little ice cream containers.

Sara looked at him and nodded, clearly amused but blushing all the same: "I guess great minds think alike?"

They worked together to clean everything up and Sara couldn't help but observe him while he was focused on molding the ice cream into two perfect scoops. He looked so good simply wearing a pair of jeans and a grey tee-shirt. She had to admit that she was enjoying observing him and that the more she learned about him, the more she fell for him. And the way he kissed her, well, that was enough to make her feel weak in the knees. She also had flashbacks of the night before and let's just say that the cold ice cream was going to be much appreciated. That is if she could manage to forget the conversations they already had about ice cream, on the first day they met and the night before, right after "round 2". Maybe the ice cream wouldn't help with her currently feeling hot after all…

"Can I taste it?" Sara asked after they each had started their ice cream. Michael lifted his spoon and pushed his bowl in Sara's direction. She didn't react at first but then made a face and declared: "Way too sweet!"

"Well, that's part of the appeal!"

"Do you want to try?" Sara indicated her own bowl.

"No, thank you. I told you, I really don't like anything with chocolate and chocolate ice cream is as chocolaty as you can get…"

"Come on, you have to try it. It's absolutely delicious!" Michael didn't want to give in but Sara had other plans: "I tried yours", she started with a flirtatious voice, "you have to try mine…" She seductively licked her spoon to seal her argument.

"Okay…", Michael started. Emboldened by the kiss that they exchanged only minutes before, and even more turned on by her most recent actions, Michael stood up, spoon in hand. However, instead of taking a tiny bit of her ice cream with his spoon, he decided to kiss her, on the lips, tasting the ice cream in the process and taking his time to savour the moment. "You're right: it's delicious", he said, winking at her. Sara simply shook her head, evidently surprised but nonetheless amused.

They finished their ice cream and, after he had put the bowls in the kitchen sink, Michael offered: "Do you want to go outside? The view from the roof is great!" He sounded really enthusiastic.

"Why don't we go on the balcony instead? The view looks good too", Sara answered back.

"I can't really go on the balcony…" he admitted. He knew that he had to continue his explanation because it didn't make much sense as it was. "I know it's completely irrational and I know it's safe but it scares me to no end to think about standing on the balcony." Michael seemed embarrassed by his own confession.

"So you're telling me that you have a fear of heights but you bought this apartment despite knowing that it had a balcony?" Sara didn't understand and found it amusing to grill him. It was comical if you really thought about it.

"When I bought the place, it was still under construction so I couldn't really visit the place. Otherwise, I might have decided against it! But I can go on the roof so do you want to come?"

They both put their jackets on and were almost on their way out when Michael grabbed a blanket from the closet as well as something else from his messenger bag that he put in his jacket. They walked in the corridor and climbed up the stairs until he opened a door and they found themselves on the roof. Michael guided her to one side of the building and they faced the view that was the same as the one from his balcony, except a little higher. He gallantly opened the blanket and put it around Sara's shoulders. She smiled at him, appreciating the attention and the warmth that it provided.

Sara looked at him as he put his hands in his pockets and took the item that he had picked from his bag. Identifying what it was, her expression instantly changed, from comfort and happiness to anger and disappointment. That's how fast it was. Her tone didn't offer much room for discussion when she talked: "I'm going to stop you right here!"

Michael was about to open a black eyeglasses case when he heard Sara's words and angry tone. "What?" he asked, not having a clue of what had prompted such a reaction from her.

"I know what you're going to do and I think that you should stop right now. I don't want any part with it."

"I don't know what you think I have in that case but it's not…"

Sara cut him. "Please, Michael." She was angry but she was even more disappointed. She then continued: "I should have seen it coming. It was too good to be true. I mean, it was perfect. You were perfect, for God's sake!"

"Listen, Sara. I have no idea what's going on but I'm going to do what I was about to do and then you're going to explain why you are freaking out, okay?" Michael opened the case, took the black rimmed Ray Ban glasses that were inside and put them on.

All the while, Sara was looking at him, realizing her mistake and becoming embarrassed like never before in her whole life. "Oh God…" She felt herself blushing, even in the cold November evening breeze. She wanted to disappear. Ideally, she wanted to erase the last two minutes but unless you have a time ship it was unlikely to happen so… "I am SO sorry, Michael. I thought… I thought that you…" She was too ashamed to continue.

"What could you possibly think?!" He looked at her through his glasses, still uncertain what it was all about but relieved that Sara seemed to be less angry.

"You're going to think I'm crazy…" Michael didn't say a word, waiting for her to continue, but most likely thinking that she was a little bit right. "When I was in my first year of Med school, I was working on a lab report with two other students, a guy and a girl, and one day, we were all tired and wanted a break so this guy got up, rummaged through his bag and eventually showed us an eyeglasses case. He opened it and…" This was really humiliating! Sara lowered her head and hid her face in her hands. "And there was pot inside! He wanted us to smoke pot!" She finally found some courage to look Michael in the eyes. She wasn't clear what his expression was. Then she saw it: he was trying really hard to suppress a smile! "You think it's funny?!"

"Well, it is!" He chuckled but soon became serious again: "So you didn't think that I could simply wear glasses but imagined that I brought you here to smoke pot?!"

"I've know you for a few weeks now and you never wore glasses!"

"Because I only need them to see things that are far…"
"You didn't wear them when we went to see Jaws or when we went to the gala!" Her tone was accusing. It didn't make any sense: if he needed glasses then, why didn't he wear them?

"I forgot to bring them when we went to the movie theater together."
"You forgot?"

"Listen, they were in my bag and when I realized that I had forgotten them, I didn't want to be late so I decided not to go back."

"But you could have said something…"

"Hey, it's not like I'm blind. I can see. It's just that things are not as clear as they could be."

"And the gala?"

"I didn't feel like wearing glasses all evening." Sara eyed him suspiciously. "What? Do you know how annoying it is to wear glasses?"

She shook her head. "I don't mind wearing sunglasses all day in the summer when I'm outside."

"Me neither but that's not the point. Sunglasses are different! Are you forgetting that I am not at fault here? I wear my glasses whenever I want or don't wear them if I feel like it." This whole situation was ridiculous. Their so far great evening had taken a turn for the worse in a matter of minutes.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to the wrong conclusions." Michael looked away, choosing to focus on the sight in front of them instead. They were silent for a moment. Sara's voice eventually brought him back from his confused thoughts: "You know, you are kind of sexy with your glasses." It was a compliment and an apology all in one.

Michael saw her looking at him with a sincere (and very cute) smile and he couldn't be mad at her anymore. "Well, you are kind of hot when you're angry", he replied with a smile of his own. Sara let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. They were going to be okay. She almost ruined everything but they were going to be okay. Michael found comfort in their latest exchange as well. They just had their first "fight", if you could call that a fight, but they survived. "Going back to something that you said earlier, sorry to disappoint you but I'm not perfect." He shook his head to emphasize his next words: "My eyesight is not perfect." He had the biggest grin then, clearly proud of his ability to make fun of her and help them go back to their regular teasing.

She felt herself blush for another time that evening. She couldn't remember the last time that she had blushed in front of anyone and it seemed that she couldn't stop herself from blushing in front of him! Did she really say that he was perfect? "God, this is absolutely mortifying!" She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.

"Don't be too harsh on yourself. I actually find it refreshing to know that you are not perfect either." Sara gave him a curious look. "For one, you are rather impulsive!"

"Okay, okay. I deserve that. I guess I underestimated how that guy traumatized me with his eyeglasses case posing as a pot holding place. Again, I'm so sorry, Michael." Michael was teasing her; she could tease him back: "On the other hand", she started, "if I hadn't been impulsive, I wouldn't have invited you to watch Jaws…"

"Touché."

"Just out of curiosity, would you have asked me out?"

"First, I am the one who talked to you first! And second, yes, I like to think that I would have asked you out." He smiled at Sara and added: "Not that I want to change the subject but, despite what you initially thought, I had very pure intentions when I brought you here." He guided Sara to the other side of the building where he stopped to show her something in the distance. "Can you see? The tall building on the left?"

"Is it…?"

"Yes, that's your building! I can see you from here!"

"Well, wow, that's… that's creepy!" She looked like she had a shocked look on her face but he knew better by now than fall for one of her tricks to make him feel bad.

"Don't worry, I promise that I won't use binoculars to spy on your every move!" He playfully replied and nudged her shoulder with his. His gaze was serious when he declared: "You're so beautiful!"

Sara looked at him with intense eyes and turned her body in his direction in order to be able to completely face him. His eyes went from her eyes to her lips and to her eyes again. He took one step in her direction. She also took a step in his direction and opened the blanket that she had around her. She was inches away from him now and closed her eyes when Michael's lips were about to touch hers. She quickly enveloped him in the blanket and deepened the kiss in an instant. They kissed for several minutes, Michael's hands finding the little space between Sara's sweater and her pants and then moving up her body, eliciting soft moans from her. Meanwhile Sara was caressing Michael's face and head, enjoying the feeling of his short hair under her fingertips. She moved even closer to him, so that there was no space between their bodies and they continued kissing. Eventually, the blanket fell from her shoulders and, besides the cold air, Sara was able to notice something else: "Is that your eyeglasses case that I can feel in your pants or...?"

Michael moved away from Sara a bit, looked at her and, without giving anything, answered back, very seriously: "My case is in my jacket."

"Maybe we should get back down then, before this", she indicated his crotch with her right index finger, "goes down".

"You know, you're definitely not perfect. You could really work on your sense of humour!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sara woke up lying on her back with Michael's head on her shoulder and his right arm on her waist. He was still deeply asleep but Sara was most definitely not. She had been woken up by some unidentified noises. She wasn't completely sure but she thought that she had heard a door close and voices.

"Michael, wake up." He barely moved, emitting a low groan and tightening his grip on her. Now she was sure: she could hear a man's voice. She poked him and repeated: "Michael, wake up! We're not alone." Michael finally registered what she was saying and lifted his head to listen better.

"Oh shit!" That was all he said before suddenly, like a cat, he jumped out of bed, found his boxers and quickly exited the room. Sara had no idea what was going on.

"What are you doing here?" The question was directed at Lincoln who was walking in his direction.

"And good morning to you too, Michael! I called you last night, telling you that we were coming this morning to go to Ikea." Michael looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Were you sleeping? Did we wake you up?"

"I'm sorry, Linc, but I won't be able to join you today."

"Why not? We can wait for you to get dressed and we even brought breakfast!" Lincoln was so excited about the prospect of getting new furniture for the baby's room that he hadn't noticed his brother's unusual reluctance, which LJ had understood however.

"Dad, I think that Uncle Mike is not alone." He pointed at the women's boots in the entrance and at the two jackets on the couch.

Lincoln finally connected the dots. "Is that right, Mike? You're not alone? What's her name? Maybe she would like to join us?" Lincoln enjoyed tormenting his brother and that was the perfect occasion!

"Out! Now!" Michael pushed his brother towards the entrance of the apartment where LJ was still standing. He opened the door, grabbed the bag of pastries from LJ's hands, told them to have fun and closed the door behind them.

The whole exchange had only lasted a few minutes and Michael soon came back in the bedroom with his phone in one hand and the bag of pastries in the other. He let out a big sigh of relief and joined a very intrigued Sara under the sheets. "That was close but at least I got us breakfast!" Michael let his head fall in the pillow for a second before raising himself on his elbow. "You remember the phone call from my brother yesterday?" Sara nodded. "Well, it turns out, he was calling to let me know that he was coming this morning at 8:30."

Sara looked up at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand behind Michael. It indicated 8:52 am. "I guess we should be grateful that he wasn't punctual."

"What we should be grateful is that he didn't make it to the bedroom!"

"Do you think he would have entered the bedroom without warning?!" Sara briefly regretted not getting dressed when Michael left the room, her arms and shoulders above the sheets revealing her current state underneath.

"Oh I'm sure of it. He was on his way here when I stopped him!" Michael got closer to Sara and touched her exposed shoulder with the fingers of his right hand. He realized that she was still naked and chuckled. "That would not have been good! I'm pretty sure that I won't hear the end of it already but seeing you like that would have been worse!" Michael leaned in and softly kissed her right shoulder.

"I thought for a second that it was payback for yesterday…" Sara's left hand moved to Michael's back and started caressing him.

"For what? For unceremoniously waking me up at dawn and then throwing me in the street half naked?" He pushed the sheets lower so that her breasts were now almost uncovered, letting his fingers trail down. Despite the layers between his hand and her body, Sara couldn't help but shiver under his touch.

"You're not exaggerating at all, are you?" Her hand travelled up and found his face. She gently stroked his cheek with the palm of her hand.

"Me? Never!" He leaned in and closed the distance between them, capturing her soft lips in an instant.

Sara quickly broke the kiss: "Maybe next time you should listen to your messages if we want to avoid a very rude wake up call…"

"Sorry, I was a bit distracted yesterday…" He kissed her again, lifting the sheets a little and moving closer to her.

"Distracted huh?" That time, Sara was the one who kissed him and they stopped their verbal exchanges, preferring to let their bodies do the talking.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It was 11:05 when Sara woke up again. She was nestled in Michael's arms, her head on the side of his neck. Michael seemed to be asleep. Her eyes fell on his torso and on a scar that started horizontally under his left pectoral muscle to continue perpendicularly to his ribs. It was probably 20 centimeters long in total. She couldn't think of any medical conditions that would result in such a scar and the physician in her grew curious.

Michael opened his eyes to see Sara's gaze on him and on his scar more precisely. He knew what she was going to ask him when she delicately touched the white line. He heard her voice: "How did you get this?" He wasn't sure how to answer. On the one hand, he didn't want to burden her with his (shitty) past. On the other hand, she was special and he felt that she deserved to know the truth, however somber it might be. He took a large inspiration and started: "Well, this might not be pretty but this is the best scar that ever happened to me." Michael looked at Sara and saw kindness in her eyes. "I was with this foster father for some time. He became violent when he drank, which was quite often actually. One day, I had enough. I figured that, one way or the other, things needed to change. So I pushed him." He paused for a second to look at her. She could probably guess where this was going but he continued. "I talked back and he got mad, really mad. Despite my intentions, at some point, I got scared and I tried to leave the room but I only managed to make his liquor bottle fall on the floor. God, he became furious. He grabbed the cap of the bottle and he just yanked the broken end towards me. I was only wearing a tee-shirt and it cut right through it. He didn't hit me after that, which was unusual for him. I guess seeing all the blood freaked him out. He probably thought I was going to die or something. So he took me to the hospital, child services were involved and I never saw him again. I got lots of stiches because of the cut but ended up spending two wonderful weeks in the hospital. They couldn't put me with another family until I wasn't completely healed so they kept me in the hospital the whole time with the staff looking out for me, bringing me ice cream, lolly pops and all kinds of treats while I was there." He finished the story with a small smile.

Sara had tears in her eyes and didn't know what to say. Words felt inadequate. "I'm so sorry, Michael", she finally whispered. She then gave gentle kisses on the length of his scar, eventually moving up and kissing him fully on the lips.