“Nikki, that man is twice your age. Why would you want to be with him?” she asks.
“Because he loves me, Mom. And I love him, too. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else before,” I say.
“He’s too old for you,” she responds as she shakes her head.
“Age shouldn’t matter when it comes to the heart. Besides, we’re both adults,” I remind her.
“Nikki, do you know what you’re getting yourself into?” she asks.
“Yes,” I reply without hesitation. “Mom, we’re madly in love with each other. He proves his love for me every single day, and he showers me with affection. The way I feel about him is unexplainable; he’s the love of my life.”
“Honey, I don’t want you to get hurt,” she says.
I know my mom just wants to protect me, but I trust Leo; he’ll never do anything to hurt me.
“I know, Mom, but he loves me, and I trust him completely. He’s good for me, and I’m good for him, too. Right, Kenny?”
I glance up at Kenny. He nods with a smile.
My mom is silent again. It’s important to me that I get her blessing before it’s too late. I want her to know that there is someone who will take care of me when she’s gone. She turns toward me and reaches for my hand. She places it between both of hers as she stares into my eyes.
“You really love him?” she asks.
“Yes, Mom,” I say.
“Does he treat her right?” she asks Kenny.
“He treats her like a queen,” Kenny nods with a bright grin.
“Well,” she says as she pats my hand. “Then you should be with him.”
“Really?” I ask.
“Yes. I want you to be happy more than anything else in this world, and if you believe you’ve found true happiness with him, then I want you to be with him,” she states.
It’s a relief to hear her say those words.
“So, I have your blessing to be with him?” I ask.
“Yes, Nikki. If you both are as in love as you say you are, then I give you my blessing,” she says.
“Thank you, Mom. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
I wrap my arms around her, and she holds me in her embrace.
My heart feels heavy because I know her passing is inevitable. The doctors have done everything they could do. She has fought long and hard, and the battle has been rough. It’s going to crush me when she dies, and I know I won’t be able to handle it on my own. Luckily, I have the greatest best friend in the world and a loving man to help me get through this.
18
Leo
Silence rings loudly throughout my mansion. Every now and then, I think I hear Nikki’s laugh, but then I realize that she isn’t here and that I’m all alone. I haven’t seen or heard from her since the tour ended a week ago. Why is she tormenting me like this?
She promised me we would stay together after the tour was over, but now I’m starting to question whether she meant it. Maybe she didn’t. Was our relationship just a fling to her? It meant the world to me.
As I sit alone in this dark room, all I can think about are the promises we made to each other and the passionate love we made every night. I couldn’t have imagined the fire that burned between us; it had to have been real. So why haven’t I heard from her?
I thought she loved me, but if she did, she wouldn’t have abandoned me like this. My nights are sleepless, and I haven’t eaten anything in days. I’m miserable without her.
I don’t get it. I thought things were perfect between us.
Did she ever really want me in the first place? Maybe she never had any intention of being with me after the tour. Maybe Rocky was right. After all, why would pop diva Nikki Minx want an old guy like me? I’m twice her age, and my career isn’t nearly as successful as hers. I even had to latch onto her tour just to make a comeback.
I must be crazy as hell to think that a hot, ambitious woman like her would ever want to be with a guy who threw his whole career away ten years ago. Maybe I was just convenient for her while we were on tour. While I was falling in love with her, maybe she was just using me, but it all had felt so real.
I glance over at my cell phone sitting on the coffee table. I’ve been waiting for her call for days. I called her twice after the tour ended, but she never called me back. I feel like a fool for sitting around and waiting for her, but I don’t know what else to do.
My pride is preventing me from calling her again, since I’ve already reached out twice and haven’t heard back from her.
