Chapter 58: Don’t Give Up

Maximus I sat in the chair, staring blankly at the papers on my desk, having finished the second packet of cigarettes and moving on to the third one. It was a daily mundane routine—manage paperwork, get through the burdening hours of each day, and finally, drink myself to sleep. Leonardo's routine wasn't any better. Seven years..... Seven fucking years and thirty-five days, it was as if she'd just disappeared into thin air, as if she never existed in the first placem, as if I never had her in my arms or ever seen her face. My body had begun to forget her scent, how it felt, how my skin felt when hers was against mine—but my mind and heart—could never. I was fucking dead. So fucking dead from the inside. Sometimes it felt like dying was the easy part, but then again, the hope that someday, maybe someday I'd get to see her again, didn't let me die. It'd be so fucking easy to take a blade and end the struggle, but no. I couldn't just make it easy for myself after everything my brother and