Gray – Final Part

 

(We have reached the final part of this short story. July is the 7^th month, so I have divided the story into 7 parts. It was based on a dream I had at the end of June. I hope you have enjoyed it. Feedback appreciated. 😊)

The cell phone message alarm went off and he checked to see who it was from at that time of the night or dawn depending on how you look at it. Although anxiety was making his heart skip a beat, he had to wait for his 4 am coffee break to check.

‘Hello, I am sorry for sending you a message at this hour. Please forgive me. I hope you can meet me for coffee during your morning break at 8 am at the hotel breakfast room. I would love to chat with you. I find you extremely interesting’.

He couldn´t believe his eyes. He wished he could ask someone to pinch him. The journalist wanted to have coffee with him. Him. Mr. Nobody. Mr. Ugly. Mr. Doorman. He was thrilled and he wouldn´t miss this opportunity for the world. Good thing he was off at 8, so it wasn´t just a break.

Meanwhile, the young woman who could see colors again, decided to wear a blue outfit to match her eyes. She snuck in the hotel through the garage so that the doorman would not see her. A few minutes before 8 am, she was sipping coffee in the breakfast room. Her nerves were rattling. Quietly she prayed for her plan to work out. She saw a good-looking man come in her direction about 10 minutes passed the hour when she had just looked up from her watch. Was it the doorman or did she get herself into rough waters?

“Good morning, miss! I was thrilled when I saw your invite for coffee”.

“Good morning. I am relieved that you accepted spending this time with me. I am not one to usually send out these invitations, but whenever you spoke to me, your voice kept ringing in my mind”.

He looked down and blushed. She observed him and out of that beneath that hideous uniform there was handsome man. He had broad shoulders, green eyes, a rough beard and dark hair, she realized that her heart was skipping a beat. What was she getting herself into? She was not one to believe in love at first sight. This was going to throw her off track. She was doomed. Or maybe not? If he had feelings for her too, it could just be the perfect scheme.

They sat there for hours chatting, laughing, eating, drinking, just enjoying each other’s company right up until the moment he let slip that her blue outfit really brought out the blue in her eyes.

“You can see colors?” She was quite a good actor and wished that someone from the academy were there to award her. This plot was turning our better than she had imagined.

“Um…um…” he was a loss for words. How did he end up making such a horrible mistake that could cost him his life? How was he going to take it back? “Is there anywhere more private that we can go? Don´t take this in a terrible way. I do find you extremely attractive and I can also feel your vibes, however, it´s just that what I am about to reveal might be heard by the wrong ears”.

A decision needed to be made. They could go up to her hotel room, but that could be a trap. Who knows what might have happened there since yesterday? A brilliant idea popped into her mind.

“Perhaps we can go to another hotel nearby and book a room. Would you be ok with that?”

He consented and off they went. Since he knew the city better than she did, he directed the taxi driver. She kept her eye out to see whether they were being followed. Meanwhile all these feelings, emotions and thoughts were springing in her heart and mind. She did have feelings for him. She had never felt this way towards anyone before meeting him. Her secret was still safe and she didn´t believe that he had a hunch. Maybe she could just get him to undo the hypnotic spell and not even tell him the truth at least for now. No matter what happened in that room, she was going to make the best of it. The thought that she had fallen into a trap was completely dismissed.

Arriving in the room, the attraction was too strong. They made love more than once as if the world would end in the next couple of hours. While cuddling, he whispered in her ear. The words sounded like harps being played by angels.

“I think I am spellbound for your beauty. Love at first sight, I can risk saying. Yes, I can see colors. I can also help you see colors if you wish”. She smiled as he spoke these magical words. She felt the same way as he did. “But the price to pay is high. It would mean leaving the country. We´d have to escape the government”.

She turned to look into his eyes. No malice there. His words were true and came from the heart. Deep down inside, she truly believed that she could get him to make everyone see colors again.

“Why the government?”

“First, are you willing to spend the rest of your days together with me in another country?”

She didn´t need to think to much about the answer to that question. She had been in other relationships but had never felt this way. Or did any of her previous relationships make her feel the way she was feeling at this very moment.

“My answer is yes, on one condition”.

He frowned. Why did she need to add a condition? Was he making a good choice here? Was this a trap he was getting himself into? No, this was true. The government in charge were not as bright as everyone had them painted out to be and in shades of gray. Pun, intended.

“What is your condition?”

“I would like to ask you to make everyone else in the country see colors again, even the governmental officials, including the president”.

“Oh, no! He can see colors. Just him and me. You see I am an unsuccessful hypnotist. When the president approached me, I owed a lot of money. His proposal seemed harmless, and the amount of money was fabulous”.

She listened attentively. Her brain was trying to come up with a way to make him come up with a plan how he would make everyone see colors again.

“The president had me record my hypnosis and it is played on all types of media, just before a movie comes on or a program. That´s why I became a doorman. It wasn´t because I needed to, you see, by working nights I was not tempted to turn on the tv or radio and then during the day I would need to sleep. It was a way of not falling into the trap”.

“But what did you do for entertainment?”

“I read. There is nothing better than reading, is there?”

They laughed. As a journalist and writer, she wanted her material to be read.

“I have a plan”, he said as he sat up in bed. “But we need to act quickly”.

She listened attentively.

“I will make another recording inverting the trick so that people can see color again, call the networks and tell them that as of now they needed to play this new recording”.

“Ok, so that would make people go back to seeing colors. But how do we know that the president will not demand that the old recording be played again once we are gone”.

“Good question. The next step would be to call the president to tell him the system had been hacked and there were people who started to see colors again. He will be outraged and demand that the old recordings be destroyed and replaced with the new one. However, it should play for a week and then this new recording must be destroyed also to avoid future problems. It will also give up time to escape. Everyone will be so thrilled in seeing colors again that the news will take some time before it reaches the president himself”.

They put their plan into action. It worked out as planned. As they were getting on their flight to paradise, the president was calling the hypnotist. “I am afraid that I can´t come to the phone right now. Close your eyes and leave a message after I tell you to open them, and you hear the beep”. The president did just that.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Now, slowly open your eyes”.

There was no beep. The president´s monster like cry could be heard miles away.

~The End~

 

Written: During the month of July 2021

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