#6 Fictional Friday: Leila & Keith…An Affair to Remember

Graphic designed by Kelly DeBie.

Editor’s Note: This is the sixth fictional post in a continuation. The stories are written in chronological order, so I encourage you to begin with #1 before reading the post below.

#1 Fictional Friday: Her Billy
#2 Fictional Friday: Our Billy
#3 Fictional Friday: Letting Go of Billy
#4 Fictional Friday: Their Leila
#5 Fictional Friday: Leila & Keith…Rekindled

Will Keith come clean with the truth? Will Leila let Keith back in her heart again?

Sliding the shower door open, his lean, defined buttock with its muscular lines reflected in the mirror. He wrapped the towel around his waist. Looking in the steamed mirror, he could faintly read the words that Leila had written with her fingertip the day before: “I LOVE KEITH.”

The words seemed distant. Unreachable.

Slipping on some clothes, he flopped down on the hotel sofa. He stared at the ceiling. A familiar feeling of numbness settling.

Meanwhile, in the adjoining room, Leila continued to cry. Her eyelashes stuck together from the tears that flowed like an endless river.

Attempting to take her mind off the deep gash in her heart, she flipped on the television. One of their favorite, classic movies, “An Affair to Remember” was playing.

Deborah Kerr asked Cary Grant, “What makes life so difficult?” Cary Grant answered, “People.”

Watching this movie had reminded her of the steamed windows at the drive-in movie where she and Keith first watched the film. As teenagers old classic midnight movie nights were a favorite date for them.

But this night was special. This was the night she gave Keith all of herself. The night of their sensuous conception – an affair to remember.

The drive-in speaker hooked to the window blared more than just movie dialogue as the two became one, and later became three – inevitably changing their life course.

“We’re headed into a rough sea, Nickie,” said Kerr to Grant. “I know. We changed our course today,” Grant replied.

Meanwhile in the other room, Keith’s eyes slowly fluttered to the pounding waves. Just before entering a slumber, the cooing of the Zebra Doves outside  awoke him. The soft whispers of the doves led him to ponder  the meaning of hope and new beginnings.

He thought of the time where he had lost all hope…when he learned of the car crash that took his family that fateful day. The stinging words that began, “I am sorry to inform you that…”

“Oh, it’s nobody’s fault but my own! I was looking up…it was the nearest thing to heaven! You were there,” Kerr explained her accident to Grant.

The rest was a blur. He blamed himself for years. “Why them? Why not take me?”

As he had grown closer to Leila and Keith over the past year, though, he felt a sense of betrayal and guilt. Guilty for being happy. Betrayal to his wife Melissa and son Phillip.

But Leila and Billy gave him clarity. Gave him hope.

How could he begin to explain his past life to Leila? How would she and Billy understand? She has already been through so much.

Keith knew life was precious. After five years of being alone, he had located Leila through some basic online high school classmate searches. But then to see the boy that looked like his twin made him feel like he was being given a second chance.

“Winter must be very cold for those who have no memories to keep them warm, and we have already missed the spring,” said Kerr to Grant.

Keith would not miss spring either. Jumping up from the bed, he had decided to break his silence.

Leila heard a knock at her door. “It’s me, Keith. I need to tell you something. Please open the door.”

Walking toward the door, she heard the famous last lines in the movie: “If you can paint, I can walk. Anything can happen, right?” said Kerr to Grant.

She unlocked the door. She, too, would not miss spring.

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Writing Prompt: Your character is drowsy, just about to drift off to sleep only to be roused because s/he spontaneously remembered an intense moment from his/her past with another love? It keeps her/him up all night, distracted the next day.

(So, I know the post did not match the prompt exactly, but I just had to tell the story as I envisioned it. I hope you enjoyed it!)

Please remember to check out my other Fiction Femmes! From romance, sci-fi, murder…they will keep you glued to your screen…

http://www.mollyfield.com

http://www.worldsworstmoms.com/

http://www.bulamamani.com/fiction-femmes-fatales-2/

http://susannenelson.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/friday-fiction-6-facebook-envy/

http://www.itsadomelife.com/

http://neargenius1.blogspot.com/
http://the-suds-box.blogspot.ca/

http://www.quirkychrissy.com/2013/02/08/fiction-friday-2/