Forever: Chapter 15

Six months after signing a contract with Mr. Archer, Timothy's book was on the shelves of the bookstores, and with every new week, the book had more and more readers. The book never made it to being among the top ten best selling books in America, but it was well accepted by both the readers and the critics. At the book readings, the bookstores were too small to accept all the fans that came to meet the author of the book they liked. Timothy went on a small book tour, visiting twenty-four cities, and every day, the people from all around the country were telling him how much they loved his work, how his book changed their lives, and how they were eagerly awaiting his next book.

Sometimes the readers had a lot of unpleasant questions like, "Is there a woman who inspired you to write this epic love story?" or "Do you have a muse?", but Timothy always avoided talking about his personal life. Soon, an offer from Hollywood to make a movie based on his book arrived. Mr. Archer didn't want to waste any time, and he immediately started negotiations with some big Hollywood studios.

The success of his book surprised Timothy. He never imagined that his book would be so well received by so many people. He didn't choose to be a writer for fame or anything else, but he simply loved telling stories. Writing was the only job he could imagine working in his life. But without Valerie, all his success meant absolutely nothing to him. If you have no one in your life to share your achievements with, you haven't achieved anything. Timothy had his family and his friends, only that it wasn't the same. Without Valerie, his success wasn't complete. Often, with a sad look in his eyes, he was hoping that she'd walk through the door at his book readings, but that remained only a wish.

Valerie found out about Timothy's book on the internet. She was proud of him, and she was so happy for his success, as it was her success. If she won a prize for the best photography, or if she was pronounced for the best photographer in the whole world, she wouldn't be this happy, as she was happy for Timothy's achievement. She always unconditionally believed in him, and she was his biggest fan.

Before the book began to sell, Valerie pre-ordered three copies online. When her copies arrived, she stayed up all night. She couldn't fall asleep until she read the book until the last page. It was a love story between a young American, Thomas, and a mysterious English girl, Victoria, she knew well. While Timothy was writing the book, he would not allow her to read what he was writing about, but secretly at night, after he would fall asleep, she would leave the bed, go to his working room, and read his story.

In a way, it was their love story, and the book was full of fragments of their conversations. That was probably the reason why, at their first meeting, Mr. Archer said to Timothy how the story seemed incredibly realistic to him. The story in the book was fictional. It was happening in a different time era, but Timothy truthfully described the feelings, the love, and everything else Valerie and he had. And to many people, their love seemed to be love from some vanished time, from another era when love was completely different from today.

People used to write love letters; they lived for the moment to see the one they loved on the street, and exchanging a word, or two, was enough to make them the happiest creatures on the planet. Today, for men, the love of their lives is the woman who will give them the best sex, and for women, the right man is the one with a big bank account.

That is not true love. It's not true love when you love somebody only for certain skills or for their bank account. Love is hard to explain, but love is the most powerful feeling someone can experience. Love is when someone makes your heart race, when you are ready to give your life for the one you love, when your feelings are pure, when you are fully giving yourself and don't expect anything in return. That is how Timothy loved Valerie, and she loved him.

Valerie kept one copy of Timothy's book next to her bed. She put one copy in the box with the other things from Timothy, she was carefully keeping as a treasure, and she was always carrying one copy of the book in her bag, everywhere she was going, like a lucky charm.

She was still afraid of going to the hospital, and before going to see a doctor for her regular check-ups, she couldn't sleep for days. Even though Valerie had no symptoms of the disease, she was afraid that she'd hear from her doctor that the cancer was back. Her will to live was stronger than ever. She had to live long enough to see if Timothy's next book would be more successful than the first one. She wanted to know what he was writing about these days and if he had found new inspiration in his life.

She didn't know that Timothy had stopped to write at the moment she left him. The reason was not a typical writer's block, but he didn't know what to write about anymore. Timothy always considered himself a romance writer. Love was the only thing he wanted to write about because love was the most wonderful thing he had experienced in his entire life, but since Valerie was gone, he stopped believing in love. How could he continue to write about something he wasn't sure existed anymore?

Since his book was published, Timothy's life has been split between Santa Monica and New York. All that traveling was exhausting for him, and he decided to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, where he would be closer to his agent and his publisher. "A smart choice. You'll need one room for yourself and one for your books," Brian was joking with him. But everyone was hoping that in New York, Timothy would have a fresh new start and finally get over Valerie.

This time, his father didn't object. He had no arguments. Timothy made more money from his first book in a half year than he had in three years of tireless work in the furniture store. Mathew realized he was wrong all the time. Writing can be a full-time job, but he never found the courage to admit that to his son.

One quiet evening, at a book signing in New York, came Megan. She was an old friend of Timothy's from high school. Actually, they were never true friends. They were just going to the same class. After she finished school, she moved to New York with only one goal: to build a music career at any cost.

"Timothy Chambers!" Megan said when she saw her former classmate.

"Megan?" Timothy said, surprised.

"Hi, Tim!"

"Hi! What a surprise! Good to see you!"

"Yeah, good to see you! Come here!" Megan hugged him, and she kissed him on the cheek.

"I haven't seen you since high school!"

"Yes! The time flies! Look at you! You're living your dreams!"

"Well, this is so far from the life I dreamed about," Timothy said, and he was honest because he never imagined that he would have to live one day without Valerie.

"Will you please sign your book for me?"

"Yeah, sure! This is weird! Signing a book to someone you know from back home."

"I knew that you'll make it one day."

"Well... there were moments when I had doubts. So, tell me, how is your music career going?"

"If you can pay your rent and bills from your art in New York, then you're doing great!"

"I couldn't agree with you anymore!"

"And you, Tim? How do you like living in New York?"

"So far, so good!"

"Are you living alone?"

"Yes!"

"I was shocked when I heard about you and Valerie, and I wasn't the only one. Everyone in high school was sure that you'd stay together forever."

"Well, that's life"

"Listen, I know how it is to be alone in a big city, so this is my number, and you can call me anytime you want, day or night. We can go out for a drink, to the movies, or just talk. Okay?" Megan said, and she gave him a piece of paper with her number on it.

"Okay."

"Can I have your number?" she asked him directly.

"Yeah, sure! Wait, I'll write it for you," Timothy said, and he began to search for a piece of paper.

"Here, in your book," Megan said.

Timothy didn't like the idea of writing his number on the first page of his book, but Megan left him with no choice. Books are not written for writing phone numbers on their pages; they are written for reading, and we should take care of them. While Timothy was writing his number, he was feeling as if he was tearing his chest apart.

Megan wasn't wasting any time. The next day, before noon, she called Timothy and asked him out. They went to dinner at a small restaurant in Brooklyn. Timothy had a problem finding the restaurant. He had been living in New York for three months, and he was losing himself on the streets of the big city almost every day. When they entered the restaurant, he realized it wasn't just a friendly invitation to dinner, as she told him over the phone, but Megan asked him on a date.

"Today, after you called me, I was listening to your songs all day," Timothy said, trying to start a conversation.

"Really?" Megan asked, positively surprised.

"Yeah, really!"

"And what do you think about my music? Did you like my songs?"

"Your songs are great! Now, I'm your biggest fan!"

Timothy said that only because he wanted to be polite. He didn't like her songs at all, and there was something very annoying about her voice. All her songs sounded the same. If you hear just one of Megan's songs, you'll have the impression that you've heard them all. He only heard two of her three albums because he couldn't take it anymore.

"Thanks, Tim!"

"All of your songs are sad, especially "My Lonely Heart," but that is the one I liked best," Timothy said that because that was the only title of the song he remembered.

"I started writing these songs while I was still in high school. Then I was really in love with this guy. He was my inspiration, but he never returned my feelings because he was in a relationship with another girl. But, the songs I wrote for my new album are much happier!"

"Why? Has he returned your feelings?"

"No, but there is hope! He broke up with his high school sweetheart, and he is single at the moment," Megan said, and she touched his hand across the table.

While she was looking straight into his eyes, she was shamelessly lying to him. Maybe sometimes Timothy could be naive, but he was not stupid. He was reading her like an open book. In high school, Megan was never interested in him. She was dating the captain of the football team, who was the most popular guy in their school. Since she moved to New York, she has been in relationships with a businessman, a music producer, and a millionaire. Valerie left him five years ago, and if Megan had been into him, she would have come earlier, but miraculously she showed up when she heard about his big success with his book. If his book wasn't selling well, they would never have had this boring conversation.

Megan was impatient. She couldn't wait to finish with dinner and leave the restaurant. She had different plans for the rest of the evening. When they walked out onto the street, she invited him to her small apartment, not far from the place where they had dinner. Timothy accepted, even thought he knew that he shouldn't. The entire evening, Valerie was on his mind. It was obvious what Megan wanted from him, but he wasn't ready for a new relationship, especially not with someone like her.

At the same moment they entered her apartment, at the door, she kissed him. Never in his life, Timothy kissed another girl but Valerie, and he was feeling awkward. Every time he was kissing Valerie, he was feeling something inexplicably beautiful, and his heart was beating faster, but when he kissed Megan, he felt absolutely nothing. When he kissed her, Valerie crossed his mind.

Every one of her touches was causing him pain, as her fingers were burning his skin. While he had sex with Megan, he couldn't get Valerie out of his mind. He hated himself for what he did because he wasn't fair to himself and Megan. While she was peacefully sleeping next to him, Timothy couldn't fall asleep. He was thinking of what he had gotten himself into. Did he do it because he was feeling tired of everyone feeling sorry for him, and he wanted to show the whole world that he had gotten over Valerie? But he hasn't, and he never will. He thought, maybe after some time, he'd get used to Megan and her touches. But what if he was wrong? Megan was not Valerie, and she will never be.