She, dressed in a little black dress and stiletto heels, walked behind me into the same elevator. She took her eyes off her rose gold smart phone only to see that the level she wanted was already pressed. As the door closes, she puts down her phone and stares at me through the reflection on the elevator’s mirror door. Our eyes met. As I was about to compliment her shining brown eyes, she asked to me, “Is everything ready?”

 “What?”

 “A will. So that people will know what to do with your assets once you’re gone. Oh, I hope you didn’t forget to buy your own grave too,” she said, “It’s fine with me if you want to end it all, but at least don’t trouble others with cleaning up the mess you’d make when you’re gone”.

 I just stared at her in disbelief. My eyes widen in surprised, wondering how she knew.

 “How did yo –”

 Ding. I was cut off as the elevator arrived on the eighteenth floor. I followed her off the elevator, hoping for an answer to my cut –offed question. However, before I got a chance to ask again, she had arrived at her room, coincidentally next to mine. She sighed and made eye contact with me. I had gotten lost in her eyes until she spoke.

 “Do me a favor, don’t kill yourself until after 6 P.M.,” she said. “I don’t want to be here when the police arrive. I don’t have time to be stuck in this mess. Since you’ll be gone after today anyways, waiting a little longer shouldn’t be a problem.”

 “Sure,” I said without thinking. For some reason, I wanted to continue talking with her but before I had the chance to say anything else, she disappeared behind her door. Stunned and feeling so many conflicting emotions, I went back to my own room.

 I plopped down on the newly made bed, dropping my backpack on the floor. The thick heavy curtains were closed so the room was dark in contrast to the sunny clear skies outside. I began to think about her words. I don’t know why but I felt really bothered by them.

 I don’t understand why humans, or any living thing for that matter, strive to live. What’s the meaning of life anyways? Why? Why are we necessary? Why is life necessary? I felt tired. I felt alone. I felt empty. I just wanted to sleep for all of eternity. At this point, why should I care about bothering others? I’m leaving. I’m never going to see them again. I’m done. I don’t have to think about them or their opinions. I don’t have to think anymore. I don’t want to think anymore. I’m done. Goodnight.

 I slowly got up and breathed in a breath of fresh air. I got a big glass of cool water to make the swallowing go easier. My only complaint right now was why sleeping pills had to be so big. I opened the bottle and as I was about to down it, I suddenly remembered her asking me to wait. I glanced at the clock – 1:37 PM. I put the pills back in the bottle and began to think.

 I really don’t think I have the patience to swallow all this. I had planned on everything except I didn’t think that even the smallest high strength sleeping pills I could find would be this big. I had planned on feeling every last pill down my throat. I was looking forward to that last bit of sensation that I’ll ever get from this life. However, looking at the size of these pills, it would make more sense to crush and dissolve them and then down the glass. I’m not scared of death but I’m scared of pain. So I decided – I’ll wait. I’ll wait as a last gift for her. And while I wait, I’ll make my last feast. After all, crushing the pills and putting them on food will make them way easier to swallow. Dying after falling into a food coma doesn’t seem so bad.

Just when I had remade plans, I heard her door opening and closing and her footsteps getting farther and farther away. I wondered where she was going. I started thinking about her – who she was, why she was here, and how did she know. After a while of stewing inside my own head, I decided to just leave it all behind me and focus on working on my last feast. I decided to head to the nearest supermarket to decide what I’m feeling for my last meal.

I walked into a nearby NIN supermarket. NIN is the country’s largest chain supermarket, established over a hundred years ago by Aldritch Young, my great–grandfather. At the time, it was 19XX, in the middle of what was known as the Great Drought. My great–grandfather had just gotten married to my great–grandmother and while they had both came from a well–off family, money just didn’t really matter if there was no supply.

My great–grandfather, who was business savvy, saw an opportunity to open up a supermarket selling freshly grown drought resistance vegetables. It’s not that the idea hadn’t been done before. It’s just that he really wanted to eat lots of greens and the best way for him to get it and ensure that it was properly grown with little to no pesticide was growing it himself. He was very health conscious after all. It’s no wonder he made it to 93.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

So my great–grandmother, with her family’s support, gave my great–grandfather land to cultivate produce. My great–grandfather’s family in turn, helped invest in the developing the latest farming tools and nutritional research. The rest became what is known as NIN today – Nurture In Nature.

Looking around the produce section, I saw some beautiful white mushrooms. I decided that I was really craving salmon right now. I bought a big salmon steak, some white mushroom, a pack of sweet corn, small potatoes, milk, unsalted butter, broccoli, limes, herb spices, and lemon pepper. I also bought a bottle of my favorite Pinot Noir.

I got back to the hotel, excited at the thought of my last meal and applauding myself for getting a hotel room with a fully equipped kitchen. I saw that the elevator door was about to close so I ran while hoping none of my groceries spill. I managed to get on the elevator only to be surprised that she was there. Once again, we both stared at each other through the elevator’s mirror door. She looked down and saw the bags of groceries in my arms. “Pinot Noir, also my favorite,” she said. “Last meal?”

Once again I’m stunned. It was as if she could read my mind. Before I could reply, she said, “Well thanks for making an effort to wait.”

I didn’t know what to say – my mouth just opening before closing back up with no sound escaping.

Ding. The elevator door opened and once again, I followed her back to our rooms. Before she could once again disappear behind her door, I blocked her from entering her room. After all, my arms were preoccupied. She looked into my eyes and raised an eyebrow. There was neither impatience nor curiosity in her eyes. She just simply looked and waited.

I also didn’t know why I wanted her attention. Without thinking, I asked, “Would you like to have dinner with me?”

“Dinner. With you. A guy due to die later?” she replied.

I realized what she implied. After all, would the police think it was just a suicide if a young man had dinner with a young lady only to die from sleeping pill overdose afterwards? “Ha…ha…” I could only awkwardly laugh. However, I didn’t want to give up this chance to talk to her. Just as I was thinking about what to do next, I heard a click of a door. When I had been thinking, she simply walked around me to her door. I was disappointed. A feeling of unwanted loneliness swept through my heart. Without turning around, I waited for the sound of the door closing so I wouldn’t have to face a door slamming in my face but it never came. Surprised, and with renewed hope, I turned around. She had disappeared into the room but the door was still open, as if I had been invited in.

With anticipation and fear, I carefully entered her room. It was an exact mirror image of mine. I saw her sitting on couch, leisurely sipping on a cup of tea and browsing through her phone. She looked up at me and pointed to the kitchen. I went into the kitchen and started preparing the food using my classic recipe.

* Wash the potatoes, mushrooms, and broccoli. In two separate pots, boil the potatoes and broccoli.

* When finished, drain the potatoes and mash with milk, unsalted butter, and lemon pepper. Mix in with heated sweet corn. Leave the broccoli in its pot until serving.

* Put two big thick salmon filets into a frying pan as is on medium–high heat and cover it with a lid.

* Cut the mushrooms thinly into the typical mushroom shape.

* Flip salmon to the other side and absorb any excess water, leaving the oil behind.

* Take lid off salmon to let sides become crispy.

* Once salmon is finished, fry mushroom slices in left over salmon oil until crispy.

* Plate the mashed potatoes mix, salmon, boiled broccoli, and crispy fried mushrooms. Dress salmon with a lime and herb spice mixture.

Just as I was platting the food together, I heard, “Leave the sleeping pills out of mine please.”

I looked up in surprise to see her on the other side of the kitchen island. To be honest, I was so absorbed in cooking I forgot what the meal represented. Mixed emotions flooded my heart. With a complicated look, I replied, “I wasn’t planning on adding it anymore.” Looking into her eyes, I felt like I couldn’t lie. A part of me felt fearful but another part felt exhilarated as it’s been some time that I had such a wonderful sensation.

I set both plates one opposite ends of the table near the balcony, poured a glass of Pinot Noir for the both of us, and lit the candles. It was 6 PM and the sun was slowly setting. We both ate in silence, taking in the view of the newly lit city below us. As the sky grew darker and the city grew brighter, the dark room was embraced with the soft warm light of the candles. We coincidentally finished our food at the same time.

“That was actually really good. I love white mushrooms fried in salmon oil,” she said looking into my eyes. She put rested her chin on her arm and looked out at the view again.  She signed and said, “Hmmm… Feels like a date.”

“It can be a date,” I blurted out. She turned to me, and once again looking into my eyes, she said “Sorry, I don’t date dead men.”

I was stunned. Again, an uncomfortable feeling washed through my heart. Mesmerized by her eyes, I slowly said, “Then keep me alive. Give me a reason live.”

“Why should I?” She responded.

Again I was tongue–tied but it made sense. I wanted to pursue her but I didn’t know what will happen afterwards. Do I make her fall in love with me only to find me gone the next day? Can I make her fall at all? Stewing inside my own mind again, I heard her say, “But I don’t mind keeping a pet.”