Dogs, cats, reptiles, giraffes, elephants, horses, birds… I’ve worked on them all. I loved healing the wounded who had minimal chance of healing themselves. My career as a veterinarian had me all over the place. For the past week, I was in Italy, working with another team of veterinarians and learning so many new things. From my appearance, no one would ever guess that I had a serious love for animals.
Once we finished up in the office, I headed out into the night, walking back to the villa I was staying in. I’d been at it for a week and managed to meet some friendly people along the walk back and forth, so I felt comfortable. I’d even picked up a bit of the language over the years, so communication was easy. My girls would check on me every day, and I’d have to reassure them that I was safe. I was used to doing a lot of solo traveling, especially since most of it was due to my job.
Walking down an alleyway that was lit up from the neighbors’ homes, I turned a corner to find a man crushed over in the center of the road. At first, I was going to mind my business and keep it moving, but then I realized that he was crossed over a dog. The veterinarian in me couldn’t walk by without at least making sure the poor man’s pet was okay.
“Hey, do you need some hel—” I started, but the words were caught in my throat when the familiar face turned to look at me.
It felt like the entire left half of my brain was short-circuited as I looked into his handsome face. My heart rate increased, and I felt moisture grow on my hands, but I had to make myself focus on what was going on because there was a hurt animal in front of us.
“He’s not mine, I just found him laying here a minute ago and I’m not sure what to do,” he responded, never taking his eyes off of me.
I jumped into action, putting my bag next to me, and pulling out a pair of gloves before examining the dog who lay looking helpless in the middle of the road. Within two minutes, I concluded that he was just exhausted, dehydrated, and probably hungry. There were no visible injuries, and none of the sensor spots that I touched seemed to trigger him to react in the way that he was in any pain.
Always being prepared, I pulled out a couple of treats. I kept it in my bag and asked one of the bystanders if they could bring us a bowl or bottle of water. After about five minutes of sitting there in the middle of the street, with a ghost from my past, and a pup who didn’t belong to anyone nearby, we got some indication that the little cutie was going to be okay. The wag of his tail and the licking of my arms was enough for me.
“He doesn’t seem to belong to anyone here. I have a kennel at the shelter where he can rest until someone claims him.”
“What’s the protocol if no one does?”
“Then he’ll be sent to the pound.”
He looked at me for a moment before standing to his feet and reaching out his hand to assist me in getting up. Once we were both on our feet, my bag was closed up, and the bystanders had dispersed, a rush of feelings came over me.
“It’s been a long time,” I said, quietly.
“Twelve years, Lin,” he gritted.
I looked him over from head to toe, and it was amazing to see how different he looked yet how much he resembled himself when we dated. He looked a bit edgier and rough-bodied, which I knew was because he’d served in the army. It was the thing that separated us twelve years ago. I hadn’t wanted him to leave, and he felt like there was nothing worth staying for. Although he didn’t say it, it was very much implied.
His parents egged him on to go into the army and not worry about the black girl wanting to build a life with him. It was in my best interest to let him go on and live his life, and I followed my own dreams. I had always loved animals, but to be a veterinarian was a challenge that I put myself up to. I guess the good thing to come of it was that I truly enjoyed what I did, and I loved expanding on my knowledge.
“That really is such a long time. What are you doing in Italy?”
“I have been living here for the last two years. After my first two tours, I got hurt at the beginning of the third and I just kind of settled here. There is no family for me back in the States, so it was just like a fresh start to do and be whoever I wanted to be.”
I wanted to get deeper in his business, and I wanted to find out what this man had been up to, since I last saw him. But there was no reason for me to dive deep into his life like that. So, I just nodded and understood and said that it was getting late, and it was nice to see that he was still alive.
I attempted to walk away, but he didn’t let that happen. I turned around when I felt his hand on my arm. Looking up at him, it was like my entire past came crashing into my chest. I wasn’t even sure what was going on, but I started crying. And it wasn’t as if I just knew I was crying right away, it was only when he lifted his hand and used the inside of his jacket cuff to wipe the tears from my face.
“I guess you missed me too?” he asked, looking down at me.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to—”
“Linya, it’s okay.” He smiled a still beautiful smile.
I took another chance to take him all in. His hair had gotten, he was a lot buffer, very very handsome, and there was just a lot more masculine energy around him than before.
He seemed to be taking me all in as well. His eyes roamed my body, stopping being on my face, my breast, my hips, and if I would have turned around, I’m sure his eyes would have locked on my ass as well. He did this slight lip, licking thing he did when he was thinking inappropriate things about me. So much of our life together flashed before my eyes.
Chase had taken my virginity when we were sophomores in high school, and he had been my boyfriend for three years after that. My family loved him, his sister and his brother loved me, but his parents did very little to hide their racism. Anytime there was a family function, I denied going with him because I didn’t want to feel like that around a bunch of people who didn’t look like me. But he was always welcome at my family events, and my family didn’t treat him any differently than anybody else.
Fifteen years ago, I was head over heels in love with him, picturing a house, two little mixed babies, and a German shepherd. My plan for life looked so much different now. It didn’t involve a house because I lived in a condo. It didn’t involve kids because that was no longer medically possible for me. And it didn’t involve him.
Twelve years was a long time to go without seeing the love of your life. And to just run into her in the middle of another country because of a hurt animal… it had to be fate. So many of the things that stopped me and Linya from having a life together were out of the picture now.
I knew that I was still in love with her because every relationship I tried to have after didn’t work out. The only thing that kept me pushing through the army, was seeing her face on the other side of it. I ran away from home to fight for our country because I wanted her to have a life that didn’t revolve around me. I didn’t feel worthy of her, and that was because she was way smarter, way more caring, came from a family that actually acted like a family, and somehow, she’s still found love in her heart for a little old fucked up me.
Leaving may have seemed like something my parents pushed me into doing, but it was my own choice so that I didn’t ruin her life. She had always been destined for greatness and looking at her now, I was sure that she had achieved just that.
“You can’t just walk away from me. What are the chances that the both of us would be here, in Italy, standing in the middle of the road, with a tired dog as the reason that we are talking now? If someone had told me that twelve or even five years ago, I would have thought they were delusional. But Lin, look at us.”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with this. I can’t just act like everything is okay for us. I would feel stupid asking questions and trying to hash out the past. So, Chase, look at us what?”
She had a point, but there was no way I would be able to let her leave my presence without at least getting her number or promising to see each other again. This has been a moment I had reimagined over and over again in my head. There had been conversations where I zoned out in the middle of them because all I could think about was where she was in life.
I attempted to look her up on social media a few times, but I had no luck in finding her. That just made me assume that she was off somewhere married with a different last name. Even in the pictures that her family posted of her, she wasn’t tagged in any of them.
“I never stopped thinking about you,” I blurted out, not daring to let this moment slip away from us.
“How long are you in town? Can I treat you to lunch or dinner? I know some really good spots here that you might enjoy.”
“Chase…” she started, letting out a heavy sigh. “This can’t be real.”
“Has to be, and I would be crazy to run into each other after all this time and just go separate ways without at least catching up.”
“At least, huh,” she murmured.
I gazed into her face, taking in what the twelve years had done to her. When I first met Linya, she was slimmer than Jim, and of course, she put on some happy weight throughout our years of dating. It made me fall more in love with her. Now, she had curves that called for all the attention, she was more mature, her face was even more gorgeous, and I liked the bob cut she’d done to her hair. The burnt orange looked good on her.
“Your excitedness is showing,” she stated, and I followed her eyes to my britches, turning red with embarrassment that I was getting horny just looking at her in the middle of the street.
“Some things never change, I guess.”
When we were younger, Linya’s mama put her on birth control as soon as she told her she was dating me. I didn’t complain about it because that meant that I could have sex with her, and we’d be okay without the risk of a baby. Our first time together wasn’t perfect, considering I’d hurt her pretty badly. It wasn’t intentional, just that neither of us knew what we were doing, and you can’t go ramming yourself into a virgin. After that hump though, it was like neither of us could stop having sex. We were fucking all over the place.
“Chase,” she said quietly again. It was going to drive me crazy thinking about my name on her lips if she decided to just walk away.
“Linya.” I closed the distance, but she stepped back.
“I need to go.”
“One breakfast or dinner date…And if you don’t want to speak to me again after, then I’ll let you go.”
“The problem is that you and I both know that’s not how it’s gonna go. Even now, I’m sure you feel what I feel. The last time you and I were together, your parents gave me hell and honestly, I’m too grown to get back with someone knowing their parents never wanted us together.”
“Well, Lin, lucky for us… Both my parents are in hell.”
“What?” her eyes widened.
“They were killed, a few years ago. If I told you by who, you’d probably laugh, but they won’t be interrupting anything for us. So—”
“Your parents were murdered, Chase?!”
“Murdered. Wise to note that my siblings are in jail for life.”
“No. fucking. Way.” Her lip dropped and her eyes widened.
“I’ve been through some shit, Lin. Yet, the only thing I even cared about was seeing you again. So, this has to be fate, the universe pushing us together like this.”
“Or you’re a stalker and crazy like the rest of your family?”
“I don’t know, maybe you should date me again and find out.”
“So, I can wake up dead?”
“White men don’t kill their wives when they’re black. You know this.” I smirked.
I’d never harm Linya, not intentionally. There were harmful things people could do without knowing it, but I’d always been interested in protecting her. That’s why I left. Now, we were grown adults and nothing was stopping us unless she was married or something. I looked down at her ring finger to confirm. She must’ve caught me because she held up her hand.
“Divorced.”
“Divorced?” I asked, feeling a ping of jealousy that she’d moved and even gotten married.
“No, kids though. Can’t have them.”
“Can’t?”
“In remission, dealt with some cancer a few years ago that basically destroyed my reproductive system. I did get to save some eggs and will be considering a surrogate in the next five years.”
“Linya, one date… maybe two. Could be a lifetime.” I’d probably fertilize any egg she wanted me to. We could raise an army together. I just couldn’t imagine not trying it again with her. She was right there, in literal arms reach. She could be mine again, and I could be hers.
“We don’t know each other anymore, Chase.”
“So, let’s change that. Here’s my number. Here’s my address. I’ll leave it all in your hands. But I hope to God I hear from you again.” I was able to close the gap this time, kissing her forehead before stepping back. “Reach out or come by anytime you like. This,” I motioned around me, “is home. I’m here.”
She nodded her understanding before tucking the scrap piece of paper in her bag. After another once-over, she left me there standing in the middle of an Italian street, hoping that the universe didn’t separate us again. The love of my life was here, and I wanted her badly.
Comments ()