A bittersweet goodbye in 2140

I stood in the hallway, my hand still on the doorknob. I'd been contemplating this moment for weeks. Even months. My entire life had led up to this one moment. And now... now that it's here, I just don't know what to do.

I take a step away from the door and lean my back against the wall opposite it. I stare at the floor and let out a deep breath. This is not the time for hesitation. This is a moment for action. I've been preparing for this day for so long that it seems cruel to delay any longer. So why am I delaying?

I look up at the door again, absentmindedly brushing strands of hair aside with my other hand as I waited for a suitable answer to present itself. After a few minutes, I noticed something odd. The air conditioning vent above me was making an odd sound. A loud vibration was accompanied by a high-pitched whine, almost like... someone singing?

I turn sharply toward the door, suddenly aware of a new presence behind it. Someone was singing through my vents? I look back at the door again, trying to decide whether or not to investigate further when another thought occurs to me: if someone's in there now, they could have heard me talking to myself!

I rush back over to the door and press my ear against it, straining my ears to pick up any sounds inside my conference room while struggling to suppress a laugh at how ridiculous this whole situation is. In all seriousness though, I have no idea who could possibly have been in there while I was deciding whether or not to go in there and confront my ex-girlfriend after 3 years of nothing but silence from her end... but whoever it was almost certainly heard everything I just said!

I open the door slowly, peeking inside before entering fully. The room is empty (of course) except for one person sitting on top of the table - Olivia! She looks just as surprised as me as she hops off of her perch and rushes over to me with a big grin on her face.

"Brad! It's been so long!" she says excitedly as she pulls me into a warm hug and kisses me on both cheeks (the European way). "You look good!"

She backs away from me and looks me over once more before turning around and saying "You're not going to believe this..."

I try not to laugh as she makes her way around the table once more and sits down on top of it again, facing me with her legs dangling over the edge this time and leaning forward slightly with her hands clasped together in front of her face.

"You look great too!" She says happily as she bounces excitedly on top of the table like a little girl who has just finished telling you how much fun she had at school today while bouncing around like a little girl who has just finished telling you how much fun she had at school today while bouncing around like a little girl who has just finished telling you how much fun she had at school today while bouncing around like a little girl who has just finished telling you how much fun she had at school today while bouncing around like a little girl who has just finished telling you how much fun she had at school today while bouncing around like a little girl who has just finished telling you how much fun she had at school today while bouncing around like...

"Stop." I say with a smile as I hold up one hand in front of her face. "You're making me dizzy."

She laughs playfully and resumes her normal position before continuing: "When Sandra told us about this guest speaker yesterday morning - you - we didn't really believe it because he's been MIA for years but... wow! You're even better looking than I remember!"

Her eyes are sparkling as she looks up at me from where she's sitting on the table. There's definitely something different about them though - rather than being brown like most people's eyes are, hers seem almost golden in color instead... almost inhuman...

"How long have you been here?" I ask awkwardly, hoping she will take the hint and stop staring at me like that already. Her stare is beginning to make me uneasy in addition to being unnerving since nobody ever stares like that unless they're crazy or they've got some sort of agenda... neither of which are very good things considering that we haven't spoken since we broke up three years ago!

"Last night! We drove all night so we could get here early enough to explore town before everyone else arrives." She replies happily before continuing on without taking notice of my discomfort "We even went whale watching yesterday afternoon..."

"Whale watching?"

Olivia flashes another dazzling smile at me before replying "There are lots of whales here apparently."

"Right..." *So mysterious* *Maybe it's all part of some kind of psychotic delusion* *Who knows*

*Maybe there are unicorns too* *And leprechauns* *And angels singing*

*Great* *That would really be helpful* *All I need now is magic rainbows too*