She hugged her arms close to her chest, the snow falling around her settling on her shoulders. She was overlooking the city, the bright lights popping against the cold night sky. She could hear a soft hint of music from the party inside.

She lowered her gaze and felt someone approach her from behind. She didn't need to turn around to know it was him. She could sense him, smell him, hear him. She had attuned her senses to differentiate his aura from others. He stopped just behind her and stared at her back, trying to read her, trying to see through her. They had grown so far apart, he should know what she was thinking but he'd lost the ability.

"Holly?" His voice was deep, sultry and filled with meaning.

She didn't respond. She griped her jacket sleeves with her fingers tighter, her knuckles turning white. She could barely hear him over the overpowering thud of her heartbeat. Her ears were shaking and burning bright when he took a step closer.

"I miss you." He was so quiet she barely heard him. She could feel her lip twitch with a smile, trying to escape, at his kind words. "I was an idiot, I know that now. I thought... I thought you'd moved on. I thought you'd gotten over me and you made it seem so simple." He paused and tried to gather his thoughts as he watched her, unchanged. "I thought I'd gotten over you, I lied... I lied to myself really. I just kept denying the fact that every time I thought of you it hurt my heart. I can't do this anymore, I can't pretend."

She heard him take a long deep breath and felt a warm tear trickle down her cheek. Suddenly his hand was on her shoulder and he was turning her to face him. His hand sliding down her arm. Her skin set ablaze when his fingers reached hers and he intertwined them, squeezing her small delicate hand tight between his large fingers. She looked up at his face and felt everything running across it. He looked tortured. She recognized her own emotions in his face. She understood and realized he was being honest. He really did care, and missed her.

She reached up to his face and placed her small cold fingers on his cheek. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard at her touch.

"Me neither... I love you." Her voice was quiet and shaky but he heard every word.

He opened his eyes and saw her smiling up at him. He released her hand and scooped her small delicate frame into his arms and pulled her face up to his, colliding their lips together.

Chapter 2.

9 months earlier...

Holly was relieved to be back at work. She had always hated the HR seminars and this last one was no exception. It was always hours of discussions on the payroll system, benefits coverage, terribly boring tedious topics that she had no interest in hearing about. She understood it was her job and she was very happy to still have a job but the last few months things had been difficult. AJ had been a welcoming blessing in her life but she knew it would never be the same. She missed Michael and wished things could be different.

She walked into the office and was greeted by Sarah, their bright and perky receptionist.

"You'll never guess what happened?"

Holly set her briefcase down on the floor and stood before Sarah, shrugging. "What's that?"

"You know that really weird Regional Manager from the Scranton branch?...Oh wait you were in that branch before right?"

"Yeah...what about him?" She licked her lips, they suddenly felt so dry.

"He showed up."

"Here?"

"Yeah. He called us and said he was coming in to do his sales meeting thing and we said sure. It... was a nightmare." The young girl began giggling and shaking her head in disbelief while Holly stood firmly in place.

"What happened? Did he ask about me? Um, no I mean, how was it? What happened? I'm just...no... go, sorry." Holly was stammering, begging her mouth to stop moving.

"Well he showed up with this girl, what was her name? The receptionist from there."

"Pam?"

"Ya, she seems nice. She has to deal with him though, I'm so glad I work here."

"So what happened?"

"First, he was being weird about you. Did you two have a falling out or something? Is that why you transferred here. He seemed relieved to know you weren't here."

"Really? Oh, no, we were... uh, we were friends. Relieved? Really?"

"Yeah, looked like it."

"Oh."

Sarah continued to explain to Holly about the fiasco of the meeting, how Michael badgered AJ and crawled out of the conference room, then Pam took over and called everyone names. Her mind began to reel, however, and she felt her heart sink deep within her chest. It had been so damaged when he left her there but this was something new. To know that he was relieved she wasn't there crushed her. It's not at all how she'd imagined it and she couldn't take anymore.

When Sarah stopped talking and waited for a response Holly just nodded and looked at the girl with wide eyes. Then reached down, grabbed her briefcase and went back to her desk. She was walking through the doorway when AJ stepped out in front of her stopping her movement.

"Hey good lookin'." He was a nice guy, suave, smart, handsome and perfect in everyway except that he wasn't Michael.

"Oh...uh hi. I was just going back to my desk to put my stuff down."

"'K, I'll come with you."

She really wanted him to leave her alone but she meekly smiled at him in reassurance and they walked to her desk. When she put her stuff down she noticed the small yellow sweater on her chair was moved. When she turned her head to inspect it she could clearly see the right sleeve had been cut at the elbow. She quietly reached for it and ran her thumb over the fraying edge.

"Whoa, what the hell happened to that?" AJ was standing behind her.

"I don't know," but she did know. Michael.

"That's messed up. I wonder if it was the cleaning crew or something."

"I don't know." She lifted the sweater off of her chair and quietly folded it up, placing it delicately on the top of her desk. She stared at it for a few moments more before turning her attention back to AJ. "You know what I should probably get to work, do you want to get lunch together today?"

"Sure sounds great." He leaned in and she hesitated for a brief moment before turning her cheek allowing him to kiss her softly. He was oblivious to her reaction and turned away leaving her alone.

She turned back to her desk, standing behind her chair and stared at it, imagining Michael. She closed her eyes and envisioned her feet were resting right where he had stood. She could almost feel his presence, if she squeezed her eyes tight and slowed her heart rate down, she was sure he was there with her. She reached out for the chair in front of her and ran her fingers across the back of it, pulling it away from her desk. She continued to keep her eyes closed and stepped in front of the chair, sitting down slowly. When she reached out before her to place her right hand over her mouse, the movement woke her sleeping monitor. She slowly opened her eyes and felt relaxed and calm again.

When her eyes drifted across her computer desktop they didn't notice the missing file titled "Dear Michael".