Timeless Love

Chapter 6: A Breathing Secret

"Yeah, so uh...sorry about randomly showing up here. Maybe if I had your phone number I could text you before showing up...?" Kobe asked.

God, is he asking for my number? Isn't that a flirting technique?! I thought.

"Oh, sure..." I hesitantly told him my number. And he thanked me afterwards.

"No, really. I'm not meaning to come off as a stalker or nothin' like that! Hell no!" he laughed, trying to ease the tension between us.

I shyly laughed before asking why he was here in the first place.

"I don't know," he replied, "I mean you seemed alright before. Just thought we could chill, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess." There was something he wasn't telling me. I could feel it. Call it a woman's intuition or whatever, but I was certainly being benighted about something.

Kobe looked intently at me with his dark grey eyes. It was the first time I'd had ever really focused on his appearance before. Being an introvert, I don't tend to look at people often, at least not dead on. But here he was, looking straight at me. And honestly, he was rather attractive. A lighter complexion than mine, rich black hair, and of course, those grey eyes.

"Okay, there's another reason I'm here." Kobe admitted.

"Huh!" I softly exclaimed coming out of my daze. "Oh, what would that reason be then?"

"You're interesting."

Interesting? Interesting? I was expecting a confession of theft, or a claim to love, or...

Apparently my confusion was as loud on my face as it was in my head, because he went on to explain how my explanation of enjoyment of literature was intriguing. Though I still couldn't help but feel there was another reason he had come here.

"Oh, so books? You want to discuss literature?" I asked, feeling slightly more at ease in this area of discourse.

"Not exactly. I wanted to just, oh I don't know, get to know you."

I stared at him blankly. Had he lost his wits? Was I supposed to just become an open book? No pun intended...

"I...I'm going to get some more tea. Want any?" I said, stalling for more time.

"Sure, I'd like some. Green tea if you have any."

I smiled. Maybe he hadn't lost his wits.

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I came back into my room and handed Kobe his tea before awkwardly asking him how his day had been.

"Pretty usual, really." he seemed distracted.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Its just...I feel bad asking, but do you have a dad?"

I was so caught off guard that it took me a moment to reply. It had been ages since anyone had asked about her father.

"I did have a father, yes. He just, isn't with us anymore." I said swiftly.

"Why?" Kobe asked gently.

"He's deceased. Cardiac arrest." I barely managed the explanation.

"I'm really sorry, I'll change the subj-"

"No, it's perfectly fine. Yes, he died and yes, he's been gone for awhile. But that doesn't mean he never existed. He was a person, he impacted my life just as much as any living person could, and just because he's not physically here doesn't mean I can't still love him." I interrupted.

Kobe stared at me in surprise. "That makes sense. That makes perfect sense."

"Er, thank you." I smiled. "What about you? I mean, how's your family like?"

"Ah," he said after a sip of tea, "now there's a story! Well, I'm an adopted child actually."

He was right. This was a story, completely news to me.

"I was originally in foster care though. Okay, well not originally, but before being adopted I was. I originally lived with my dad after my mom offed herself when I was like two years old."

I nearly spat out my tea! "Really?" I asked sympathetically.

"Yeah. My pa said she gone a little berserk after I was born 'cause he was working full time and she had the care of me alone. Put strain on their relationship and that. You know?"

"Wow. So what happened to your father then? If you're adopted now..." I enquired. 

"Well after my ma passed and he'd been raising me alone he became more and more stressed out. Money running low didn't help either. I guess one day he was just deemed an unfit parent, and before I knew it I was in the foster care system. But I was eventually adopted when I was ten years old. Got lucky."

"Damn. So...your family now...?" I asked, wanting to know more about his current situation.

"Is the best thing I got." he said, finishing my sentence. "You know," he paused seemingly for dramatic effect, "you're the first person I told all this to."

"Oh come on, you mean you've gone all these years living a secret?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yup. I'm mean, people knew I was adopted but not...not all that." His eyes seemed to shimmer, but I couldn't tell why.

"Oh." We sat in silence for a moment. Perhaps he could tell I was deep in thought.

"Aye, well it's gettin' late. I guess I should be going, huh?" He said.

"Oh, yeah!" I looked at my phone utterly shocked to find out that we had been talking for hours. "I'll see you at school then."

"See ya, Liss." he headed downstairs and for the door with a smile on his face.

Liss? No one had called me that before. I suddenly remembered that he now possessed my phone number and could contact me whenever. Suddenly it didn't seem so awkward anymore.