At the Stroke of Midnight

Prompt: End your story with a kiss at midnight.

16 long years since I saw the love of my life, my home: Prague.

Walking down the stone streets, the winter air bites my skin, bringing with it the light flush of the cheeks that had for so long felt like a distant memory: the cold breath in, the warm sign out, the chill breeze caressing my face, a gentle reminder of the new year's hope.

The electricity of being home flows through me with every step (or maybe it's just all the layers to stay warm), as I take in the beautifully woven streets and shops on the way to my first and most necessary stop of the day. Stepping past the stained glass door of the cafe, which has quickly become a favourite over the past week, I contemplate whether it would be too early to order grog¹ at this time of day.

"Please let me get that for you, miláčku", a deeply accented voice calls from behind, leaving me in utter shock at the stranger's audacity to refer to me as sweetheart.

"Excuse me?! What do you..." I whip my head to face the audacious voice, only to be met with the ocean blue eyes I've had memorised my whole life.

Nikolas... With his wavy, chocolate brown hair that shook with laughter and ocean blue eyes that crinkled at the seams every day of my thirteen years in Prague. My boy next door, the one I've loved since before I knew what those three words meant. The boy I grew up alongside. The boy whose life I disappeared from, without a trace, one winter morning in January of 2009. The man whom I've looked for ever since. He's here.

"Yes, miláčku," he snaps me out of my thoughts, watching the shock grow in my eyes at his use of the endearment once more. Does he remember me??, "What else do I call a beautiful stranger..."

Stranger... The one word knocking the breath out of me. He doesn't. He forgot...

---

16 years ago

"Milena! Are you listening??" Niko repeats, his hands flailing before me, snapping me out of my daze.

"Uh huh, yup. Whatever you just said," I reply, trying to bring my mind to what it is he was saying.

"Something is wrong," he observes, and even though I deny it, he's right.

"Nope, nothing wrong..." Everything is wrong, absolutely wrong. I was supposed to tell him before, but I didn't. I have to do it now. “… actually, I’m um leaving”, I mumble.

“Mil, if you want to go somewhere else, you should have just said so.” Niko replies, jumping to his feet, “So, where do you want to go?”

“That’s not…” I start

“Niko! I need you to run to the store quickly before the food burns,” Niko’s mother yells from the kitchen window, and within the blink of an eye, he’s cycled out the backyard.

“Milena darling, your parents are also asking you home, I’ll let Niko know you had to leave”, his mom informs me. With a weak smile, I look into her blue eyes, a reflection of Niko's for one final time before walking out of his house and life.

---

“Excuse me, Mil. Can you hear me??” Niko waves his hand beyond my face, snapping me back to the present.

“Wait, what did you just call me?!” My shock is evident in every word. Does he remember??

“Well, you won't let me call you miláčku, so Mil for short. Now, can I get you that coffee?” he smiles victoriously, which only makes my heart sink further. He doesn't remember, and it feels like a dagger to my heart.

“Oh. Thank you, that's sweet, but you don’t have to.” I try to hide the disappointment from my voice.

“But I do, Mil...” He says my name, but means another. “...and if you won’t accept the coffee, then I’ll have to try something else”, he ponders. I watch the spark in his eyes grow, all too familiar that the spark can only mean trouble for me.

I quirk my eyebrow, still intrigued despite the growing dread “…and what might that be?”

He comes up closer to me and rubs his hand across my forehead. What is he doing? My forehead scrunches with utter confusion.

“Now that that memory is erased, Hi, I’m Nikolas. I saw you from across the street and thought you were stunning; It would be criminal if I didn’t ask. So, could I please take you out on a date?” He asks with a voice laced in honey, and a slight smirk tipping his lips.

“No”, I blurt out. I cannot do this… I cannot pretend to be a stranger when I’ve loved him my whole life.

“Just give me the day, that's all I ask.” He counters

I continue to shake my head no.

“One day, and if in the end you never want to see me again, that will be it. I won't know your name, I won't know anything beyond the day we spent together. All I ask is one day. Heck, just until midnight,” Niko persisted.

He doesn't remember me, but I do. I remember it all. Would it be so wrong, for one day, to pretend I’m his once again?

More coming soon...

“Yes.” I blurt out before I rethink it.

“Yes?” Niko repeats, joy lighting up his face with a hint of scepticism, as though he doesn't quite believe it yet.

“Yes, to one day, until midnight, Nikolas,” I confirm. I'd have said yes to a lifetime if he had asked, if he'd remembered me.

His smile breaks into an all-out grin "Well then, I've got a bit of planning to do"

"Actually, I did have a couple of things planned for today..."

"Oh wow, Mil, I mean if you'd already planned our date, you should have let me know" - smirk

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¹ Gorg: A classic winter drink, made with rum, hot water, sugar, and lemon.