by Charity Rose
Before I know it, his eyes have already landed on me. This is one of those moments where you desperately want the Earth to swallow you whole, or when you wish for a zombie apocalypse, anything to distract you. But of course, none of that happens.
Keith doesn’t acknowledge me; he begins to speak about his experience with the class and then begins to share a series of poems he has worked on. I try to listen, but my mind is out of it. His words make no sense in my brain; all I hear is I’ll come back for you. His finals words to me play endlessly like a song on an endless loop.
By the end of the lecture, I mouth a quick goodbye to Nancy and race to the exit. “Vidya,” Keith calls out, and I break into a sprint.
“Vidya,” he calls again. I keep running, not stopping for even a breath of air. Thankfully the building I was in is right next door to my side of the dorms. I enter the building and run up the stairs I’m not waiting for an elevator, for all I know Keith could still be following me. I need to move fast. Once I reach my room, I let out all the air I was holding in. I fumble in my bag for my keys, and I straight out drop them when I hear his voice, behind me.
I close my eyes and take in a breath. “What do you want, Keith?” I calmly say.
“You,” he answers, and I feel my rapidly pounding heartbeats. This can’t be happening. No correction this isn’t happening. There is nothing Keith could possibly say to make me change my mind about him.
“Go away Keith,” I pick up my keys and unlock the door, I open it and try to slip inside by opening it just a tiny bit, but Keith stops me by opening the door wide enough for him to slip through as well, he’s already sitting on my bed by the time I turn to lock the door once inside. “Get out,” I say trying to sound with authority but it ends up falling short.
“I’m not going anywhere Vidya. You could yell at me all you like, say how much you hate me. Hell, do whatever you want, but I’m not leaving.”
“I hate you,” I state. A lump in my throat has formed, and my chest tightens when I say it.
Keith hasn’t said a word, but he hasn’t stopped staring at me. I feel my entire body growing hot, my ears are burning, and my heart is thumping.
“Get out,” I say for like the hundred times today.
“No, not until we talk,” he answers.
“What do you want Keith. You want me to say that I hate you again? I hate you, Keith, I hate you because you didn’t leave me once. No, you left me twice, without explanation. You pushed me away from your life, and I didn’t even get a say in the matter. So yes, Keith, I hate you. I hate the fact that I fell in love with you, I hate the fact that you've lied to me, I hate the fact that you’re so difficult to understand, and finally I hate the fact that after almost two years I still love you.” I cry out, his whole demeanour changes as the tears begin to fall from my face, “Why the hell are you here? I was trying to move on. I was starting a new life away from you, but now you’re here too?”
I make way for the doorknob, but of course, Keith stops me, yet again. If this is a sick way for the universe to punish me, fine I’ll take it but on my own terms. I shove Keith to the side and open the door. “Vee, I was already going here. Did you forget? Where are you going?” I grab my bag off the floor and head out of the dorm. I just can’t be around him right now. I can’t take it.
I can hear Keith’s footsteps behind me. Honestly, I don’t know where I’m going, all I know is that I need to get away from Keith.
“Vidya Fletcher, could you stop running away from me. Just talk to me,” he says.
“I already did. Why don’t you talk for a change?” I blurt out.
“You haven’t let me,” he answers. He’s right. I stop.
I turn around, “Fine speak,” I say.
“Can we go back to your room, please?” I grab his arm, and as I’m about to lead him to my dorm when a little girls voice resonates behind us.
“Daddy?” when I turn to see who the girl is, I find my literary studies professor Mrs Jones standing there with a young girl I’d say around three or four years old, standing beside her. Her eyes are the deep and stormy blue of Keith’s, her hair blonde and in a messy ponytail on one side of her head.
“I’m sorry, Keith, she was growing impatient; she wanted to see her father.” Mrs Jones said. What? I stare at the girl with my eyes wide, taking in her appearance. There is no mistaking it.
“Keith,” I say, but he isn’t paying attention to me, he directs his gaze towards the small child.
He finally answers me, “Please, Vidya, let me explain. I promise I’ll tell you everything,” he walks up to the girl and, kneeling down to her level, he whispers something in her ear. A cute smile plasters on her face and a giggle escape her lips, “Can you please watch her for another hour, Margaret,” he says to our professor. She gives him a curt nod and then smiles politely at me as she takes the girls hand and they walk away.
Back at my dorm, I take a seat on the head of my bed as Keith sits across from me. He presses his hands together, neither of us is sure where to start.
“It’s been a crazy year. I truly need you to hear me out Vidya. I need you to hear every bit with an open mind and open heart,” he begins. What is that supposed to mean?
“Keith, tell me,” I don’t know what Keith is about to say to me. I’m hoping he’s going to tell me everything that has happened; all of it. I crawl to where he’s seated, his legs folded on the bed and I seat myself directly in front of him, our knees touching. I raise my hand to caress his cheek with my thumb, he leans into my touch.
“I love you Vidya, that’s something that has not changed, and I don’t think it ever will.” I know he's honest. His eyes say it all. “Here goes nothing,” and so the story began with a tragedy that happened four years ago.
Chapter 30
Everything I have gone through in the last two years has been nothing but chaos, and to think it all started because of a stupid game of Truth or Dare.
A few weeks ago, I sat patiently in my dorm room, hearing every word that passed through Keith’s lips. With each word he said, the more pain I felt. I couldn’t imagine someone going through so many hardships.
I love Keith, I never stopped. He had a daughter. A beautiful girl named Emi after his mom. Keith’s ex-girlfriend Athena had kept his daughter a secret from him. No one could blame her, it wasn’t her fault, and she was scared and forced by Keith’s father to keep quiet. Keith might have never known it wasn’t for the lawyers needing Athena to come in and testify. She had already had several run-ins with James Masters in the past. He had continued to haunt her for years.
I cannot imagine how twisted a man has to be to want to cause so much harm to his wife and son and all the women in their lives.
After a good long talk together, Keith walked with me outside to the small grassy courtyard between the two dorm buildings. Mrs Jones was sitting, reposed as she watched Emi playing. The little girl was skipping around, chasing butterflies. After a few words with Keith Mrs Jones stood and took her to leave, commenting that she’d see us in class tomorrow. She pauses long enough to say, “It’s good to finally meet the muse that inspires so much of his best writing,” she didn’t say anything else, but I turned and watched as Keith approached the little girl. His little girl. And picked her up in his arms, swinging her around in a circle before hugging her tightly. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched them together. Emi was lucky to have her father.
Athena had been ill when she and Keith had met at fifteen, and she was sick when they met again at eighteen. She was barely able to have the baby, and it nearly killed her but still, she chose to have her. But her illness was becoming too much for her to handle Emi. Athena arranged for Emi and him to meet and get to know one another as the court case raged on. Between being in and out of the pews and the hospital, Keith and Athena came to understand each other more than they ever had before. Athena knew she was dying and together, Keith and Emi had to face it alone.
Keith had once told me that Athen
a was his entire world. His first true love. And nothing could change that, not even me. And I was okay with that. Some of the world’s greatest love stories are really tragedies in disguise, and that was something I had to accept. But from the ashes arise the phoenix, and if there was ever a phoenix to be born, Emi was it. Her smile was enough to set the room on fire with its brightness. She was all smiles when Keith walked her over to me, and she introduced herself with not a hint of shyness. Her tiny frame was filled with fire as she asked me a thousand questions and demanded a thousand and one answers. Her blue eyes were ablaze with curiosity. And I was more than happy to answer.
Chapter 31
Three Years Later…
“Mr and Mrs Masters, the staff and I could not put this book down. The world you both have created is phenomenal, it’s a beautiful story. And the additions you made in the edits were perfect, it’s added another level of depth we weren’t expecting,” says our editor Alexia, “The both of you are on to something grand,”
“Thank you so much Alex,” Keith answers. “When will it be sent off to print?”
“Next week if you think you can finalise the edits by Friday? You don’t have to come to the office, just email them,”
Keith looks to me, “Vidya?” he asks, and I nod, “We can do that,” I say.
Once back at home, we open the door to see Emi is already waiting. She had heard the car in the driveway and had leapt from her toys to greet us.
“Daddy!” Emily jumps into her father’s arms.
“Hey sweetie, how was school?” he asks, swinging her around.
“Great, I got learn about leopards today,” she responds.
“Oh, really, what did you learn?” he asks, and she begins to describe all the things she knows about leopards. He gives the nod to the babysitter as she grabs her bag and passes between us to leave, I stop her a moment to pay her and give her our thanks as well as an extra tip, she politely refuses the extra money and mentions what a sweet girl Emi is. I thank her and wish her good luck on her exams coming up as I show her out the door.
Turning I smile at them both. Never in a million years did I think that this little girl would become a part of my world.
“Do you want to help Vee make dinner?” Keith asks as he settles Emi onto the sofa, she nods twice, “Perfect, then off you go to get washed up.”
“Okay daddy,” she gives her father one last smile before walking over to me to take my hand, “Hey mamma, can we make macaroni?” she asks, and my heart melts. She began calling me that almost a year ago but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing it.
Hours later, Emi is tucked into bed, and the two of us have some time for ourselves. Now that our first co-authored book, the beginning of a series, is going to finally go into print we can celebrate.
I bought something just for a night like this, and now Keith will be seeing it for the first time.
“Vee, I’ve been waiting for a while now,” Keith calls out from the room.
“Just a second,” I answer from behind the bathroom door.
“You said that about an hour ago,” he remarks.
“Liar, I’ve only been in the bathroom for five minutes. Are you ready?” I call.
“Yes?” he questioned. I could hear the anticipation in his voice.
“Alright, here I come,” the door swings open, and Keith’s reaction is priceless.
“Holy fuck,” he breathes. I’m just standing there on the threshold as he devours me with his eyes makes my body flush with heat.
“Vidya. Vee, baby—if you keep standing there for another minute longer. I’m going to lose my shit,” each word was punctuated by a throaty gasp.
“Come and get me,” I purr. The sheets slide to the floor as he climbs out of bed.
“Fuck yes,” he says, walking up to me, eyeing the silky lingerie that encases my body. It hugs every curve leaving everything and nothing to the imagination. With a smile, Keith reaches out and places his hands on my hips, drawing me towards him. “I must be in heaven because I have my own personal angel,” he says with a smile. Leaning in, he places a kiss on my lips. Gently at first, but it quickly escalates. Tugging on my bottom lip with his own, earning a faint moan on my part, he guides me towards the bed. We take a few steps when he leans down and hoists me up into his arms, kissing me all the way to the bed.
Fitzgerald was right, there are all kinds of love in this world, but never the same love twice.
The End
Book Blurb
Seventeen-year-old Vidya Fletcher isn’t looking forward to attending public high school. However, it has its perks. One of which is being able to meet new friends and new boys.
Between cramming for exams and dealing with girl drama, Vee finds herself torn between two guys; the sweet, but immature, Bradley and Keith, the tough boy with a haunted past. She likes Brad but finds herself inexplicably drawn to Keith in a way she can’t explain. But when a game of Truth or Dare goes horribly wrong, a secret is revealed that could change all their lives. Vidya is determined to work through it, but Keith is afraid to repeat the past. Will it strengthen their bond or tear them apart?
Never the Same Love Twice is a coming of age, second chance romance novel aimed at upper Young Adult and New Adult audiences.
Recommended for 16+ Contains language, mild violence, mentions of assault, drug/alcohol references and mild sexual themes.