Delaney and Forrest lay sprawled out on a mattress lying on the floor of the studio with vaulted ceilings and an elevator to the lobby. The sheets were tangled between their legs and there was an ocean of space separating them with only the edges of their wrists touching.

Music floated out of the speaker and neon lights illuminated the concrete walls. It was half past 2 when Delaney opened her eyes, turned her head, and glanced at his milky white skin. He was perfect with her dark curly hair and perfectly full lips. His chest was uncovered by the gray sheet, and she could see the definition of his chest and ribs.

It was heaven, everything felt perfect even though his mattress was unusually hard. She smiled and then drifted back to sleep. Morning eventually came and she woke up again. This time Forrest was gone and she knew instinctively to look in her notebook sitting on the nightstand. She flipped through the pages and found his note “I love you.”

She sat up then gracefully stood up from the edge of the mattress and walked past his easels covered in abstract art. He had a trunk full of every journal he had and old science notebooks. As she flipped through them curiously, she saw his notes on his relationship with God. He had cards all over his wall from people that loved and celebrated him, his entire space was meticulously decorated to exude his unique personality. She found his journal from the day that they met “she is an angel”.

It was a dream that they had connected after so many years at the Christian retreat. This time they wouldn’t miss the opportunity to spend time together, when the world stopped. Their time would be very short because they were going in opposite directions, and she was only in town to test for MENSA.

She had taken this trip to Manhattan and was in touch with Forrest since the retreat, but they were talking on eBay and didn’t have each other’s phone numbers. They had barely talked and started the evening off by doing ecstasy together. It was random for the both of them since they were both sober, but they had meant to do it once before they entered recovery.

Now he was gone, and the night had passed so fast and Delaney left to go to her testing. Forrest lived and worked in Manhattan as an artist. She had never been so she nervously maneuvered the streets feeling high on life. Her phone started buzzing in her purse, but the only thing she cared about was in her green notebook.

After the testing Delaney had a quick flight and had to make her departure from New York very fast. She knew she wouldn’t see or hear from Forrest, but she also knew that with friends it’s never ‘goodbye’, it’s ’until we meet again’.