I watched the blond get up from her table and carry her purse with her to the bathroom, while her date smiled nervously and nodded. It was easier to think of her as the blond. Even thinking her name would twist my emotions into knots. It was better this way.

No one noticed as I drifted into the ladies room. Strictly speaking I wasn’t a male any longer but that would hardly matter to anyone who saw me.

She was standing in front of the wide mirror over the sink adjusting the filmy material that clung to her shoulders. Her nose wrinkled as I closed the distance.

Waiting until the very last moment, I dropped the Cloud and paused so that she got a good look at me before pulling her into my embrace. Blond hair tickled my nose as she struggled, up until my lips found her neck. After that she was so still that time seemed to stop. I wrapped both of us in the Cloud while I finished my business.

Rejection can have many unintended consequences and I found that the opposite of love wasn’t hate- it was eternal misery.