by Diana Nixon
"I'll be there in twenty," I texted back. I gave the stranger one more look and then headed towards the gates.
I never saw him again, but every once in a while, I kept finding bouquets of white roses on my mom's grave and I wondered if the same man had brought those. Too bad I didn't get a chance to know more about him.
***
Present Day
"Dad? It's me, Rhea!" I stepped into the house that still smelled like a rose field. Mom always bought the same aroma oil to fill the place with the fragrance of roses that she loved so much. It was one of a those things that dad and I never wanted to change, making sure we had enough rose oil in the house.
Coughing, my father came down the stairs and smiled at me. "My girl, I'm glad you've made it."
"How are you feeling?" I asked, hugging him.
"Not so good to be honest. The doctor said it could be pneumonia."
"Oh, God… What are you still doing here? I mean, aren't you supposed to be in the hospital?"
"He said he'll come back tomorrow and listen to my breathing again. If it doesn't get better, I will have to go to the hospital."
"I see. Well, I'm here now and I'll take care of you. Go back to bed, I'll make something for dinner. Do you have food in the fridge?"
"Yeah, I placed an order this morning, knowing that you would stay for the weekend. You will stay, won't you?" He looked at me with eyes full of hope. We both knew I hated staying at home, as well as we both knew I would never leave him alone, especially when he needed me most of all.
"Of course I’ll stay. Now go to bed."
"Thank you, Rhea. You know how much it means to me, right?"
"I know, Dad." I waited for him to go up the stairs, then I went to the kitchen.
The moment I opened the door, my heart sank. The kitchen, as well as the rest of the house, still looked the same way it did when mom was alive. We changed just a few things that needed to be repaired or were too old to keep them.
The collection of mom's porcelain cups was still in the cupboard standing at one of the pale-green walls. I came closer, opened it and took my favorite moon-shaped teacup. When I was a kid, mom never let me use it, afraid I would break it. Then when I grew up, I always drank tea from this very cup.
Sighing, I filled the teakettle with water and waited for it to boil.
A beep in my bag said there was a new message on my cell phone. But I didn't even look at it, already knowing it was from Jeffrey, who most likely noticed my absence and wanted to know why I left without saying good-bye.
A nervous laugh escaped my lips. Who would have thought he was the son of the man I hated with all my heart? Why? Because Eugene Coleman had been my father's boss for as long as I could remember. He was the man who made him work nonstop, even when my mom was sick and needed my dad to stay with her. I blamed Mr. Coleman for everything terrible that happened to me, because if it were not for his orders that always needed to be complied with right away, I would still have a family, complete and happy.
The day I found out about his influence in the university, I almost quit the idea of sending my documents there. Then I sat and told myself he couldn’t take away another dream from me. Mom always wanted me to study Fine Arts and I wasn't going to give up simply because the man I hated to death was one of the university patrons.
Only I could have never imagined I would fall for his son, and after the kiss we shared tonight, I knew I was in love with him – the something I thought I wasn't capable of feeling, at all. When Jeffrey told me about his father's arrival, I didn't even think it could be him – Eugene Coleman. Jeffrey never mentioned his name.
But now, everything took its place in my head. The only problem was – I should have found the strength to stay away from Jeffrey. Because there was no way in the universe I could let myself fall even harder for him and let him ruin me once again.
***
Jeffrey
Something must have happened tonight that made Rhea leave the party that promised to be the best party of my life. I sent her dozens of messages, I called her more times than my mobile operator could bear, but she wouldn't answer any of them. I even asked Sandy to get in touch with her, but the result was the same – zero response.
I started to think back about everything that followed Rhea's arrival tonight. But I couldn't come up with any logical explanation for her sudden disappearance. Did she get angry because she found a quadcopter that I used to spy on her? Or maybe she regretted the kisses we shared. No, it couldn't be true. I knew she enjoyed them as much as I did, and there was no way she would run away because she all of a sudden thought it was a mistake. Or could she?
Damn, I was gonna lose my mind if I didn’t talk to her. She said she would stay for the weekend with her father, and it felt like Monday morning would never come at all.
The night was hell to me. I stopped sending messages, because the obvious stared at me, but I refused to accept it – she didn't want to talk to me.
"Hey, man, you look like shit," Levy said, seeing me sitting at the kitchen table. "What happened?"
"It's a good question. I wish I knew the fucking answer."
"Wow… Is it about Rhea again? Did she dump you or something?"
"Or something…"
"All right." He took a seat across from me. "She was all into you last night. What did you do to scare her away?"
"That's the problem – I didn't do anything."
"Have you talked to Sandy? I think she was the last person who saw Rhea last night."
Speak of the devil…
"Morning, boys!" Sandy stepped into the room, wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around her and a pair of leopard slippers. "I need your help. My shower broke, but I can't leave the room without washing my hair first."
"You can use ours, if you want," Levy said, smiling like he was about to join Sandy in the shower.
I shook my head. They were 'a perfect' match – a nerd who knew all about women and their behavior in every possible situation, and a daddy's girl who thought her girly ticks worked the same way on every guy she wanted to impress.
"Thanks," she gave Levy her best smile. "I'll just get my shampoo and be back."
"Wait!" I called after her. "Why did Rhea decide to leave the party so early last night?"
She shrugged. "Have no idea. I guess it has something to do with your name."
"My name?"
"Yeah, well, she acted weird when I told her your last name was Coleman."
Levy and I shared a puzzled look.
He chuckled and said. "Looks like she doesn't like your name, man."
"Did she say anything before she left?"
"Um… Something like 'What have I done?' if I heard it correctly."
"That's strange… What does she have against my name?"
I took my phone and sent her one more message, "Please talk to me. I need to know why you left so abruptly last night."
God, I couldn't wait until Monday to see her again. I needed to see her now!
"Does anyone know where her father lives?"
"I think I can try to find his address in her notebook," Sandy said. "She left it on the couch in our living room."
"I didn't even know people still used notebooks," Levy commented.
"She's a Fine Arts student, remember? History and old-fashioned things are her weaknesses." Sandy went back to her room to get shampoo and search through Rhea's notebook. I prayed she would find the needed address. So when ten minutes later she returned with a piece of paper in her hands, I was about to jump from joy.
"You got it?"
She waved the paper and then gave it to me. "You owe me one."
"Whatever you want, just name it." I took the piece of paper like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Thanks, Sandy."
"I'll think about what I want." She winked at me and then asked Levy to show her where the shower was.
I grabbed my wallet and my car keys and rushed to the parking lot. I hoped Rhea wou
ldn't kill me for coming to her place.
The house was old, but there were many flowers around it and everything looked well-kept. I opened a small gate and walked down the road that led to the door. It was late and there was no light in the windows. I pushed the doorbell button and waited, and waited some more…
Just when I was about to give up hope, the light in the window went on and Rhea opened the door.
"Jeffrey?" She looked behind me, as if she expected someone else to be there. "What are you doing here?"
"You wouldn't answer my calls or messages…" She looked a bit tired and definitely not in the mood to explain things. But I insisted. "We need to talk. May I come in?"
"It's late and I need to…"
"Please," I begged.
She sighed. "Okay. Come in."
"Is your dad asleep? I don't want to wake him."
"He's in the hospital."
"What happened?"
"Pneumonia. But the doctor says he's gonna be fine."
"Is that why you haven't answered any of my messages?"
She didn't comment on that. "Want some tea?" She asked instead. Without waiting for my response, she turned around and went down the long hall. I followed her.
We came to the kitchen and Rhea turned on a small lamp over the stove to illuminate the room.
"Are you okay?" I asked, even though I knew she wasn't.
"Yeah. I'm just tired. It's been a long day. Dad woke me up at five in the morning. He had a high fever and I had to call the ambulance." She took two cups and started pouring water into them. It looked like she was doing it on autopilot.
"Let me help you," I said, taking one of the cups. "Where do you keep tea bags?"
She motioned at one of the drawers and sat down in a rocking chair. It stood next to a floor-length window and the moonlight slipped through it, highlighting Rhea's tired eyes.
"I'm sorry for coming without an invitation," I said.
She looked me in the eye, but said nothing. I came closer and gave her a cup of tea. "I was worried about you."
"I know. I read your messages. All thirty-five of them. I just… I needed some time to think."
"Something happened last night, right?"
I took one of the chairs standing next to the kitchen table and moved it closer to hers, so that now we were sitting opposite from one another.
"If you don't want to talk about it, I'll understand," I said. Maybe it was a bad idea to come to her place tonight after all. I should have waited until Monday and let her deal with her family problems first. Silly me.
"I have no desire to talk about last night, but I'm glad you came."
"Really?"
She nodded and sipped her tea. "I would go crazy here alone." She ran one hand through her long black hair and leaned against the back of the rocking chair. "The day mom started feeling bad, we were alone in the house. Dad was at work, as always. I didn't know what to do or how to help her. That day I failed to help her… Now every time I hear the sound of an ambulance siren, I start praying for the person the doctors are trying to save."
"But the story isn't going to repeat. Your dad's gonna be okay." I touched her hand and smiled briefly.
"Thanks. I needed to hear it from someone else." Her eyes searched mine and I didn't know how to treat the unspoken words written in them. There was pain, and something that I couldn't figure out. But I was sure it was not a regret about last night's kiss. More like she wanted to tell me something, but couldn't find enough courage to do it.
All of a sudden, she asked, "Will you stay with me tonight?"
In any other situation, I would gladly jump at the opportunity to spend another night with her.
"Only if you promise not to run away from me again."
"Not this time."
"But you are going to do it again later? Why?"
She stood up and so did I.
"We can't be together, Jeffrey. But for tonight, let's pretend we can."
"Rhea, I don't understand… What's going on?"
"It's a long story." She lowered her eyes and I knew she wasn't ready to tell me the damn story, though I was dying to hear it.
"We have the whole night ahead of us. Or is your story that long it can't be told in one night?"
She took my hand in hers. "Don't ask anything, please… Just come with me."
And I obeyed.
How could I not? She was the only girl I wanted to be with right now, and even if the upcoming night was going to the last night for us (though I was still hoping to get an explanation from her), I was going to stay, for as long as she needed me by her side.
We went upstairs and came to what I suppose was her room. I wasn't surprised to not see a single pink spot in there. The dark blue, green and yellow that were all around the room suited her so much better than too girly pink.
"Can I ask you something?" She said, sitting on the edge of her bed.
I nodded and sat down next to her.
"Is Eugene Coleman your father?"
"Yes. Why?"
She closed her eyes shut and said, "I hoped you would say he isn't… After everything I managed to find out about you, I still hoped you two were not related."
"What do he and our family name have to do with your escape?"
She looked surprised.
"Sandy told me you ran away after she gave you my last name. So the question is – what's wrong with my name?"
"Nothing. But something is terribly wrong with my life. And it's all your father's fault."
CHAPTER 11
Jeffrey
I stared at Rhea, not sure how to react to her words.
After a short pause, I finally dared to ask, "What did he do?"
She stood up from the bed and started passing the room, as if she could barely control herself. "He ruined everything…" She said in a trembling voice. "First, he stole my father, making him work 24/7. Mom and I never hoped to see him at home for Christmas, because your dad hated planes and always asked him to drive him back to Pittsburgh for the holidays. I never knew what it's like to spend a weekend with both of my parents; there had always been only mom and me. Dad missed most of my school events and no amount of money that your father paid him could replace his constant absence in our life."
Dad rarely spoke about his work when at home. He spent a lot of time in New York, and he hated planes, still does.
Rhea spoke again, "And then… Then mom caught the flu and dad wasn't in the city to take care of her. God, Jeffrey… I was just a kid. I didn't know anything about death. I didn't expect it to take mom away from me forever, not so soon anyway." She stopped at the window and wrapped both arms around herself. "She was everything to me… My shelter and my strength, my fairytale and my dream coming true every morning when she walked into my room to say good morning to me. She wasn't supposed to die… I wasn't ready for it." Even though I couldn't see her face now, I knew she was crying. I felt like my heart was breaking with her every tear. "I wasn't ready to stay all alone," she added in a whisper. "I still feel like I'm alone, no matter how many people are around me. I doubt it will ever change…"
I came to where she was standing and wrapped my arms around her, dying to do at least something to comfort her, even though I knew there was nothing I could do to take her pain away.
Her body shook in my hands. She turned around and hid her face in my shirt, crying even harder.
"I'm sorry, Rhea…" Was the only thing that I managed to say.
"Don't be," she said through her tears. "It's not your fault, Jeffrey. It's the reality of my life that I seem to be unable to get used to."
I rubbed her back and kissed her hair. "Is that why you are saying we can't be together?"
She stopped sobbing and moved her head to look at me. "I wish I could turn back time and go to a different university, or move somewhere we would never meet, but it's too late… Too late to change things. And to answer your question… I can't… I just can't be with you after I spent almost six years
of my life living with a hate for the man who turned out to be your father. You love him, I know it. But I can't do this, Jeffrey… I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to apologize for, but… Do you really want to stop whatever is happening between us? Because last night your eyes were saying something completely different."
She lowered her head and whispered, "You don't understand… No one does."
Maybe she was right, I wasn't her now, I looked at the situation from a different point of view. But I was sure I didn't want to lose her. No matter how much she hated my father.
"We will find a way to make it work," I said. "I promise you that."
What a deja-vu… Another day, another promise that I had no idea how to keep. Another failure that would cost me everything that I was holding in my arms at that very moment.
"You think I'm crazy, don’t you?"
Rhea's eyes were red and puffed from crying, but to me, she was still the most beautiful creature in the whole world.
I smiled slightly and cupped her face in my hands. "All I know is that I am crazy about you."
"Don't say it…"
"But it's true, and I want you to remember it no matter what you decide about tomorrow. Because you were right about staying – a man should stay only if he's ready to stay for a long time and not just a couple of hours. I will stay, if only you let me stay. And I don't mean tonight."
"Do you really believe we can make it work?"
"I do."
"But I will always remember whose son you are. And sooner or later, it will become an obstacle we won't be able to ignore."
"Is your hate for my father that strong? Stronger than what you feel for me?"
It was a risk to go that far with my questions, but I didn't have a choice, but to make her face the truth.
And the truth was…
"I love you, Rhea."
"No, no, no… please, stop…" She stepped back and hid her face in her arms.
"I love you more than I could have ever imagined." I stepped closer. "I love you more than I'm allowed to." One more step closer. "I'm not afraid of saying it. Because I'm sure it's not the end for us. I don't want it to be the end. Do you hear me?" I took her by the wrists and carefully removed her hands from her face. "I love you, Rhea… I'm not going to give up on you."