He lights up and I feel horribly guilty about how I've been neglecting him.
"You promise?"
I kiss him again. "Absolutely. I promise."
He is smiling as I get up and he bounces up immediately. "Where are you going?"
"I need to take Star somewhere."
"Star? Why does Star get to go and I don't?"
"Because Star needs to be there and you don't."
"Why?" he asks, curious.
I have a feeling that he's not going to stop until he gets a satisfactory answer. I stop and turn to him, putting my hands on his shoulders. "Bridge, I love you with all my heart and you are adorable enough to eat. Curiosity is a wonderful attribute, which I know you have in plentiful supply, and I appreciate that. I also appreciate that you want to be with me, but you have to appreciate I am sometimes busy and there are times when I will have to leave you for a while and won't always be able to tell you why or where I am going. It doesn't mean I don't love you or trust you, but that I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"
All the time I am speaking he stares at me with his beautiful eyes in an intense stare. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be clingy. It's just that no one has ever cared for me before and I suppose I'm insecure."
"You surprise me constantly, my dearest one. You have nothing to feel insecure about. You have a place in my heart that can be filled by no one else, a part of my soul that is yours alone. I will spend every moment I can with you. And when I am not with you then you must remember that every moment we are apart weighs on my heart."
His eyes are wide and shining and two tears glisten like diamonds in the corners, poised to spill. Before they can do so, I wipe them away and kiss him softly. I can feel him trembling. He is still so very frail.
"Wait. I have something for you. Star, would you dress please, we have to hurry. Mystified, Star complies as I hurry back to my own apartment.
I throw on some clothes and stand for a moment in front of my dressing table, looking at the image who stares back at me from the large mirror behind it. I am looking at someone who hasn't existed for a very long time. Honey yellow hair shot with threads of copper and silver tumbles over shoulders that are wide and well built. It is tousled and messy from my recent activities and I take a brush and tame it to its usual smooth, deep waves.
Haunted eyes of soft green top full lips, which are more used to frowning than smiling, these days, and at the moment are softer than I have seen in forever. I smile and my face is transformed. I know I am beautiful but for centuries that beauty has been cold and cruel. For a moment, I see a flash of something in the mirror, a slender body and smiling face leaning over my shoulder but of course, when I turn she is not there.
With a sigh, I lower my eyes to the jewelled box that lies in front of me and I toy with the lid before I open it. I am reluctant but resolute.
Nestled on the black velvet, like stars in a dark sky, are rows of rings, marching in orderly ranks and files, trophies taken from various stages of my long life. Many of them are worth more than the average man will earn in a lifetime. In the corner there is a small box, part of the fabric of the structure. I open the lid carefully and stare in wonder at my most precious possessions. They are priceless, because they were given to me by the one I care for most in all the worlds.
I pick up a ring, which is wrought from pure silver. It is light because the silver is filigree and delicate as spun sugar. It is an angel, his wings spread out, their tips touching to make the band. In the centre of his chest, pointing downwards, is a perfect pear shaped sapphire. It would be easy for me to be lost in it for hours but I don't have the time. I slip it into my pocket and move on.
The next thing I pick up is a necklace, a pendent in the shape of a seven pointed star, the points radiating outwards from the spider web at the centre, on which is caught a blood red ruby.
Next, and most beautiful of all is a bracelet. It, like the others, is wrought of silver and is filigree but less delicate, more robust looking. The band is plain apart from the beautiful twisted designs of the filigree, but in the centre is a star carved from an enormous, brilliant emerald. Of them all this is undoubtedly the most beautiful. I turn it gently in my hand, watching the light catch the star and spin from its points, lighting a fire in its deep, green heart.
They are a set and I remember her giving them to me. It was a long, long time ago. We were in Versailles, just before... before we were parted for the last time on this earth. I pick up the last item in the box and slip it on my finger. It is very simple; just one circular cut stone set into a band of silver. Unlike the others this one has no colour and all colours, the multi faceted diamond taking colour from everything around it.
Shutting the lid and taking one last look at myself in the mirror, I hurry from the room.
Star is dressed and ready to go. Sacha is dressed too, standing with his arms around Bridge from behind and his head on his shoulder, as they watch Star make his final adjustments to his white linen cuffs. They all look up and smile when I enter. The smiles fade when they see the look on my face.
Now it comes to it, I don't know what to say. It was an impulsive move and was incredibly important to me - is terribly important, but I don't know how to convey what my heart is feeling.
"It's been a long time, a very long time since I have opened my heart to anyone, and even longer since I have let anyone in. I haven't lived the best life and I have often been cold and cruel. I felt safer that way. If I viewed human life as pitiful and expendable, I would never have to admit them; I would keep my heart safe.
