She kissed him goodbye, knowing he would not remember her in the morning. But they both knew what they were getting into, what they were before love took hold of their hearts and joined them as one. No matter how they felt, they had signed up for The Experiment and there was no going back. If they tried to escape, they will be tracked down, and there was nowhere to hide from the establishment. From tomorrow, he will not see her, but she will see him, the cruelty of it was too much.

She will remember every tender kiss and nights where they would drift off to sleep in a lover's embrace. They will no longer share a bottle of wine while he stands behind her kissing her neck as they cook food together. She looks into his eyes, the pain of losing everything burning deep in her heart. A voice from behind reminds them it is time to go; a salty tear slips down his cheek as they share one last kiss.

Goodbye my love,” she whispers, releasing his hands as he steps away. 

She watches him ushered into a black limousine, he stops for a moment and stares back at her. He is a blur through her tears, and then he is gone. She wanted to chase after him, tell them they had changed their minds but there was no going back They were not informed about the details of the experiment until the briefing last week. At the time of enrolment, he was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in Iraq, and she had lost her best friend. They believed they had no purpose anymore and could be of use for the experiment. The army had lost all meaning to her, and she did not care if the country burned to ash. And then out of the darkness a light emerged, one full of love and joy. Together they began to heal and piece by piece they became alive again. For a time, they forgot about what was coming, told themselves that it will be okay. But that was before they learned the experiment involved erasing his memory and replacing it with something else. The love, everything they shared will be gone and replaced with a new life that never existed. A new love even. She will then have to collaborate with him every day, observing every torturous moment. Her part in the experiment is to ensure it works, that her presence will not undo the replacement therapy. Their love does not mean anything to the scientists, only study and results. 

Another car pulls up, and a woman dressed in a suit accompanied by two officials walks to where she stands. 

“You have been briefed private Henson, now it’s time to go.” She commanded. There was no feeling in her words, just cold and uncaring. She did not care that two people’s lives as they knew it was about to end, they were just vessels to be studied. 

Jennifer nodded and the two men walked behind her as they followed the woman to the car. One pressed down on her head as she sat in the back seat, they were treating her like carefully transported cargo. The doors clicked as they locked her inside and sealing her fate. The woman sat in the front and the two men sat either side of her in the back. A heavy feeling pressed down on her chest as the reality set in. She glanced down at the gun at the man’s hip to her right. A thought crossed her mind to grab it, but it quickly faded along with her hope. 

The journey passed in a blur as she remembered all the wonderful times they had together. Their laughter at her attempt at playing golf, he had been so patient as he watched her continuous air shots. But the darkest times were when they needed each other the most. He would hold her as she sobbed into his chest, a scent or a phrase triggering the memory of her loss. She had comforted him in the early hours when the nightmares had returned, shaking and crying out in the night. In the two years they had been together so much had changed, but there was one thing they had no control over and now it was about to unfold. She will see him tomorrow, the same woman who fell in love with him, cherished him. What he will see she has no idea, a stranger? Will she be able to disguise the love in her eyes and if she fails to, will he see it and wonder why this stranger looks at him in a certain way. 

A tiny voice broke the silence in the car. 

“Is it done?” Jennifer asked, realising it was her own.

The woman checked her watch. 

“It is now underway,” she replied coldly. 

Jennifer looked down at her hands that once held his. They blurred as her tears fell unashamedly down her cheeks. A memory flashed into her mind, one where they were sat on a blanket on a cliff overlooking the sea. They had discussed this day, he had promised he would find a way back to her, to ensure the experiment fails. But she knew deep down that could not happen. She is now being erased from his life and tomorrow he will be stood by her side like a stranger. They will introduce her to him as a colleague unaware of the love they once shared, one she still holds. 

As they pulled up to the security gates at the scientific centre, she took another glance at his gun. She could do it now, end it all and save herself from the heartache. But there was something in his words on the cliff that kept her going. 


“It doesn’t matter how much they try to erase you from my mind; they can’t erase you from my heart.”


With this she smiled, a fresh hope was born, that maybe, just maybe they can find each other again.