Never Say Forever

When Kaleah got home that evening, the first thing she did was check the messages on the home phone. There was nothing—not even a missed call from a pesky telemarketer. Kaleah sighed and hung the phone back up. 

She rummaged in her pockets for her cell phone to see if there were any texts or voicemails. She sighed in relief when her phone read back to her ‘ONE NEW MESSAGE’. She buttoned mashed until she was finally able to open it, and to her disappointment, it wasn’t who she would have hoped it would be. Tyler left her a text message saying that he’s in Boston with his band and hopes to run into Sam. He said that he will report anything weird going on if he does happen to see him. Kaleah closed the message and reluctantly put her phone back into her pocket.  

She could think of only one other way that Sam could try and contact her—through email. She quickly made her way to Sam’s computer and logged in easily. She double clicked the internet shortcut and waited impatiently for it to load. Once she finally logged onto her email, there were 2 new messages in her inbox. She quickly opened the first one, not even checking to see who it was from. It read:

Cameron came around the other day. It shocked me just as much as it’s probably shocking you right now, as you’re reading this. He may be your ex, K…but he’s a devoted ex and only ever wanted you to be apart of his life. I told him you’d be away until October and he told me that he’d wait that long if it meant you’d give him a second chance. You should call him.”

Kaleah closed the email and checked the sender of the second email. It was nothing but spam.

With no word from Sam, Kaleah couldn’t even begin to think about what her mother said about Cameron. All she could think about was that Sam broke his promise of texting her tonight. She didn’t think Sam would do that to her. With her heart feeling empty and tears rushing to her eyes, Kaleah could only do one thing—sleep. And that’s exactly what she did. 

That night, Kaleah dreamt of Sam. They were at the beach that Sam had introduced to Kaleah so many weeks ago. She wore her most beautiful dress and Sam wore a suit. It was close to sunrise, and they were having the best time of their life.        

They held each other, and talked about everything there was to talk about. They learnt everything about each other, and resolved the happenings with Brianne. Sam had come back from his Boston trip early. He ditched his truck and took the first plane he could afford. He wanted to come back to Kaleah—to tell her that he loved her; to hold her; to kiss her.  

Kaleah melted in his eyes and swooned over his kisses. They stayed out until the morning, and listened to the birds chirping and watched the fish feed. It was a beautiful moment. They smiled bigger than they ever smiled before. They laughed louder than they thought was ever possible. They kissed harder than they ever had to anybody else. It was pure magic.  

But like all dreams, it had to end. When it did, Kaleah found herself missing Sam only ten times more. The hole in her heart grew bigger, and the edges were burning. She quickly got up to check her cell phone again, and as she expected, there were no new messages. 

Kaleah had woken up too early. She wanted to go to the park and play her guitar, but she knew that she would only bug the neighbouring homes. Instead of sitting around thinking about how much she longed for Sam, she decided to distract herself by painting. It was hard for her to do. Every time she was out on that balcony painting before this day, Sam was only down the stairs. She could get up and walk away from her easel and he would be waiting down in the kitchen or at his computer. It felt uneasy knowing that she was entirely alone—not a single person was waiting for her downstairs. 

The first moment she could, Kaleah packed up her guitar and headed straight for the park. She had hoped that her new fan, Tyrell would be there by now. She had no such luck.    

She lacked in fans for hours. Tyrell had not even made so much as an appearance. Kaleah found herself disappointed at this, but happy that it was enough emotion to distract her from her heartache.

She played for almost the entire day without seeing Tyrell anywhere—not noticing that he sat at the fountain behind her for hours. She played the song Pictures, as she had the previous day, in hopes that he would somehow hear it and know that she was there waiting for his presence. Again, she had no such luck. As the sun began to set, she decided that Pictures would be the final song of her set for the day. She packed up her guitar, and prepared herself for the walk back to her car. 

It wasn’t until she started walking away that Tyrell had finally said something.
“You’re just going to leave without saying hello to your biggest fan?” He teased. Kaleah smiled to herself in relief at the sound of his voice before turning to face him. 

“Hello.” She said sweetly, playing along. “Did you need an autograph, or was my heart filled greeting enough?” She teased. Tyrell laughed.
“I don’t need an autograph, but the greeting definitely was not enough.” He responded.
"Then what can I do for you?” Kaleah retaliated.
“Give me your name?”
“Hm…” Kaleah mockingly stroked her chin. “I don’t think I can do that.”
“And why not?”
“You’re not lucky enough yet.”
“I was lucky enough to see you again today.” Kaleah felt warm at Tyrell’s subtle compliment. She wanted him to keep coming back—she liked the attention—so she still refused to tell him her name. She shook her head in response.
“Sorry.” She giggled. 

“How about…” Tyrell twisted his lips as he thought. “How about you give me the first letter in your name?” He asked, sweetly.
“How about I give you a hint instead?” Kaleah teased.
“Well that depends on how good your hint is.”
“The first letter of my name can be found between the letters A and Z in the alphabet.” Kaleah laughed.
“Wow…that sure narrows it down!”
“Well it eliminates A and Z!” Kaleah smiled.

Tyrell mirrored her smile before continuing.
“Well…if you’re not going to tell me your name, then I’m going to make one up for you.” He said softly.
“This shall be good…” Kaleah teased.
“To me…you look like a…” Tyrell studied her face. He ran his eyes from the top of her head down to the tip of her toes. He enjoyed the sexual tension he gained from doing so. Kaleah noticed this sudden tension, and found it hard to ignore, watching his eyes as they slowly met back with hers. “Angel.” He said quietly before clearing his throat. “You’re name is Angel.”
“I thought we eliminated A.” Kaleah joked, trying to shake away the emotions running through her. 

“I should go.” Kaleah finally said, breaking through the silence that suddenly occurred.
“I hope to see you again soon, Angel.” Tyrell called as she began to walk away. She was unsure of what to make of the situation. As much as she didn’t want anybody—as much as she could only keep her head wrapped around Sam--she was excited to see Tyrell again tomorrow. She didn’t know what that could mean. 

For the next few days, Kaleah continued to play her guitar at the park. She would play for the whole day, only to go back to the empty house and depress over Sam’s absence. Each night, she continued to have that dream of her and Sam, causing her to only become more and more sad about everything. When she played at the park, she only played in hopes to meet with Tyrell once more. He eased the pain—even if only for those few short moments they spoke each day. 

It got to a point where Tyrell would be waiting at the park before Kaleah even got there. He’d listen to her set for the entire day, completely oblivious to the world around him. Kaleah loved the attention—she craved the attention. He had finally stopped asking her name, until one day only four days after their first encounter. 

”You were awesome today, as always.” Tyrell complimented.
“Thank you.” Kaleah giggled. “But you say that every day. How do I know that you’re not making it up just to make me smile?”
“Even if I was, it would be worth it to see your smile. You have a beautiful smile, Angel.”
“Stop calling me that.” Kaleah playfully smacked Tyrell’s arm.
“Then tell me what your real name is!” Tyrell mockingly smacked back.  

“You’re not lucky enough yet!” Kaleah teased.
“Oh come on! I am here every single day, watching you play intently, and I’m still not lucky enough?” Tyrell was borderline serious. Kaleah shook her head quickly. “When will I?”
“I don’t know!” Kaleah smiled. “Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the next day. Maybe next Wednesday.”
“That’s a long time from now.”
“Well then maybe you’ll find it out tomorrow.”
“That’s still too long.”  

Tyrell took his cell phone out of his pocket to check the time.
“Darn...I have to get going.” He said, wincing at the time.
“Will I see you tomorrow?” Kaleah asked, hopeful.
“Will I get your name tomorrow?” Tyrell smiled. Kaleah shrugged her shoulders before watching Tyrell slowly turn to walk away. He had a permanent smile plastered across his face as he barely looked away while he walked.  

Before heading home, Kaleah took a detour to the closest dress shop. She quietly decided that tomorrow would be the day that Kaleah told Tyrell her name. She wanted to look perfect—sexy, even—so that he would want her when she told him. She tried on 16 different dresses before finally choosing the right one. 

It was expensive—but somehow, Kaleah had unnoticeably made so much money in tips at the park, that she could easily afford it. It was the first time she really noticed how much money she really had. She hadn’t been playing her guitar solely for grocery money anymore—she played it for Tyrell, and he was all the distraction she needed.
“This is a cute one.” The store clerk said as he folded her dress into a plastic bag. “You’re boyfriend won’t be able to keep his eyes—or hands—off of you when you slip into this one.” By the way he talked, Kaleah figured he was gay.
“You think?” She asked, excitedly. “It’s for a man that I met a few days ago.”
“Hm…honey, that man won’t just be that man after you show up in this thing. That man will instantaneously become your man after he sees you in this.” Kaleah smiled at the idea. She paid the man and skipped out of the dress shop to her car. 

The next day, Tyrell didn’t show up. She figured he eventually would, like always, so naturally she played for the entire day. She got tons of men hitting on her from the dress she was wearing, but she turned each and every one of them down with only one person in mind—Tyrell. She played her songs and kept looking around, thinking that he was hiding from her again. 

Hours went by and Kaleah noticed that the sun was slowly beginning to set. Although nothing has happened between her and Tyrell, she felt as if she’d been blown off. During the night time, she dreams of Sam and misses Sam. During the day, she makes room for Tyrell. There wasn’t enough room in that hole in Kaleah’s heart to be filled by two separate men’s heart breaks. She sighed as she packed up her guitar.  

She wore the dress for nothing and played only to receive tips. Like she had contemplated in the dress shop the night before, she wasn’t playing for tips anymore. She was playing for Tyrell. And the fact that Tyrell wasn’t present her for to play for on the day she had hoped  he would be the most just made Kaleah feel like she was not meant to be happy. ‘It’s because I waited too long to tell him my name…’ Kaleah thought to herself before slowly making her way back to her car.  

Almost a week had gone by since Sam had left, and Kaleah still hadn’t heard from him. Things were going pretty rough—she still dreamt of Sam and missed him more each and every morning, Tyrell had literally up and disappeared, Kaleah stopped playing the guitar at the park, and the grocery supply was slowly nearing empty. She tried to distract herself with talk shows, movies… 

…books, online shopping, internet games, and even emailing all of her friends back home. Nothing seemed to work—Kaleah still felt miserable! In her last attempt to get her mind off of everything, Kaleah took one last look at the empty fridge and decided to go on yet another grocery shopping. 

Kaleah pulled into the back parking lot of the grocery store. She stepped out of her vehicle and allowed herself to stretch. Just a she was doing so, she noticed a gorgeous, shiny green dodge Charger parked behind her Audi. Living in Iron Horse with a mechanical father, Kaleah knew all about cars and the Charger was her absolute favorite. She quickly ran over to it to admire it. She heard footsteps, but it didn’t click for her to turn and look.
“Excuse me?” The man’s voice asked. ‘This must be the owner…’ Kaleah felt her face turning red from embarrassment.
“I’m sorry! I…” Kaleah spoke as she turned to face the man behind the voice. To her surprise, it was Tyrell. “Tyrell?” She asked, shocked. She felt happy when she saw his perfect face.  

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Tyrell laughed. “Let me get this straight…you’re a young, gorgeous tourist who can play the guitar melodically and appreciates fast cars?”
“Looks like you’ve figured me out.” Kaleah smiled.
“Except your name.” Tyrell smiled back.
“Where have you been?” Kaleah asked, trying to avoid the name subject. She was planning on telling him, but not until she got an explanation.  

“I’ve been working.” Tyrell said. “Why? Did you miss me?”
“Hey…you were my best fan. Without you there, watching my every move, it just doesn’t feel the same.” Kaleah responded. “Where do you work?”
“Oh, I teach guitar lessons.” He said, quickly. “I run it privately—self employment, basically. I’m the best guitar teacher in this town…it pays the bills quite nicely.” He smiled.
“You’re the best?” Kaleah smiled. Tyrell nodded. “Full of yourself, much?” She teased.
“Hey, if you don’t believe me, then why don’t you come see for yourself? One lesson, on me!”
“Alright. When?” Kaleah smiled, excited that she would be get to see Tyrell in his domain for a change.  

Tyrell took a small step closer to Kaleah.
“How about right now?” He spoke softly. Kaleah nodded slowly, feeling overwhelmed by the tension his closeness presented. “I live in a duplex over on the bluffs. Follow me?”
“Sure.” Kaleah fished her car keys out of her pocket as she began to turn towards her car. “Oh…” She paused. “Tyrell?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Kaleah. But you can call me K.” Tyrell smiled with delight.
“I think I still like Angel better.” He said sweetly before preceding into the driver’s seat of his Charger. He started the engine, and revved it up in an act of showing off to Kaleah. Kaleah shook her head and giggled before continuing her way towards her Audi.