《Never Goodbye》 Prologue She will never stop loving you, even when she¡¯s told to. How can she move on when her whole world is falling apart, and she is not even holding it together with a string? Kimora stands there as the rain hits her face. She is dressed in a light blue pantsuit and holding flowers as tears stream down her face. Forever together, that is what she was promised; forever together, that is what he said, but he lied, and as she placed the flowers on his grave, she fell to her knees, cursing his name. ¡°You bastard, how could you do this to me? How could you leave me like this? How come you didn¡¯t take me with you?¡± she yells as everyone watches her pain. Her long blond hair fell into her face, and she did nothing to brush it away. A picture of a tall, mocha-skinned man with medium-length hair and blue eyes smiles back at her. It was the last picture she would ever get of him, the last time she would see his smile. She pounds the ground with her fist, her blue suit getting dirty from the mud. ¡°You promised me, Enzo, that you would never leave me; you promised me, Enzo, that we would grow old together, build a life together, have a family together,¡± she yells, letting her pain out. ¡°Yet here I am suffering, wanting nothing more than to touch you again, wanting nothing more than to hear your voice again, wanting nothing more than to kiss your lips just one last time; please just give me one more memory,¡± she begs, knowing what she was asking for was impossible, he was gone, and she had to move on. She gets up from the ground and walks to her car, not looking back. She doesn¡¯t want their pity. They don¡¯t understand her pain. She gets into the car and drives home; once there, she opens the door to an empty home. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Kimora, welcome home. I''ve missed you,¡± she hears, knowing that it isn¡¯t him, just a faint memory of what he always said to her when she returned from work. ¡°I¡¯m home, Enzo,¡± she whispers as she looks around; the beige walls had pictures all over them, and family was on an accent wall towards the left; the color was a light blue color in the back of the house the walls were the same beige, and if you walked a little more, there was a small yet lovely light brown kitchen with a sign that read ¡°We live together we cook together. Kimora walked from the kitchen into their room, where a huge California bed filled with pillows stacked to the top and another light blanket over the duvet. Kimora grabs a towel and gets into the shower. The warm water hits her as memories of him fill her soul. ¡°Kimora, if you didn¡¯t have the water so hot all the time, I would gladly join you, but not when it is scorching hot. Sorry, dear, but I love my skin intact, not melting off the bone.¡± He laughed as he sat on the toilet seat in blue jeans and a white shirt with a vest, his hair was braided, and he had just gotten off work that day; he was a college professor and a damn good one at that. ¡°Come on, Enzo, a little hot water never hurts anyone, she laughed as she splashed him a little; he then took off his vest and grabbed her as she pulled him into the shower with her; he was soaked but smiling as he gently grabbed her face, her green eyes meet his blue, and she smiled as he kissed her. ¡°You know Kimora, you are truly a pain in my ass,¡± he said against her lips. ¡°I''m your pain in the ass Mr.,¡± she replied as he kissed her once again with so much passion. ¡°She grabs a towel and pulls back the shower curtain. She smiles as she swore she saw Enzo sitting there dressed in his best, smiling at her, but when she blinked, he was gone. How cruel her mind was to her. Kimora gets dressed in blue sweatpants and a tank top with no bra. Her curvy body looks unwell, yet she doesn¡¯t care; she grabs Enzo¡¯s blanket and wraps herself into it as tears escape her eyes once again. ¡°I hate you, Enzo,¡± she whispers to no one in particular. She now rolls over and sees him there smiling. ¡°No, you don¡¯t, Kimora. You can never hate me, for I can never hate you,¡± he says, then fades into her memories. She now wraps the blanket tighter around her as if she is holding onto what is left of him, for dear life, as if she didn¡¯t want to forget his smell of nature mixed in with a bit of sweat. ¡°I love you, Enzo. I will always love you,¡± Kimora says as she drifts off to sleep, tears staining her sheets. 1. Hello Time can heal everything but a broken heart. The morning came, and with it came the heaviness of loss. Kimora lay in bed, knowing that she couldn¡¯t keep skipping work. It had been two weeks, and she needed to get back. Her boss needed her. She rolls over and sees an empty pillow. She brushes her hands over the empty spot, holding back the tears. She got up quickly to get her day started. Kimora grabs an outfit: a casual short-sleeved shirt with a purple cardigan, nice dressy black pants, and flats. She heads to the bathroom to put on her makeup. She looked a mess, but nothing; a slight blush couldn¡¯t fix. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you wear that stuff. You look beautiful without it.¡± He said, looking at her with his soft blue eyes; his hair was in a ponytail afro, as she called it, and he was wearing sweatpants and a tank top. She holds her breath in, fighting back the tears as he fades away. ¡°How long must I suffer, Enzo? How long must my heart ache for you?¡± she whispers into nothingness, staring at the emptiness of the house. She falls to her knees as the wave of grief hits her so hard that she is wound up again. ¡°Kimora, come on, you are going to be late for your big meeting today.¡± she sees him now dressed in light blue dress pants and a nice button-up shirt; his hair is in an afro, and he is wearing glasses, ¡° I can''t get up Enzo my legs won''t work she said in a low voice, he reaches out for her with a smile ¡°Come on Kimora we can¡¯t both be late for work grab my hand ill help you up.¡± She reaches out for his hand, and as she does, her hand goes right through his. ¡°Kimora, he isn¡¯t here. That wasn¡¯t him; he is gone, and you are forever alone. Get that into your head: he died, she says to the emptiness, hating herself and the memories she held so tightly of him. Kimora hears the rain hitting the roof; the sound soothes her soul as she fights to stand up with shaking legs; she grabs the sink and lifts herself to look once again in the mirror; her blush was smeared all over her wet cheeks, and she had no time to fix it. ¡°you¡¯re so dumb Kimora you have a big meeting today with a top celebrity for fashion week and you are a mess¡± she says to herself as she laughs slightly, ¡°Oh well nothing I can do now but head out.¡± She states now, putting her long hair into a bun and heading to the door. Once there, she grabs an umbrella and a light coat. ¡°I''ll see you later, Enzo Promise,¡± she says as she closes the door behind her, locking up. When Kimora gets to work, she is welcomed by everyone she works with. It feels good to be back; while at work, she keeps herself busy and her mind so she doesn¡¯t drift off. She was sitting at lunch, looking out the window as the rain came down hard, watching everyone down below scurry to find shelter. ¡°How are you doing?¡± a dark-skinned woman with brown eyes and curly hair asked as she sat beside Kimora, giving her a cup of coffee. Kimora gladly took the cup and smiled. Even though her smile didn¡¯t reach her eyes, she still put on a good front for the woman. ¡°Life happens. Sometimes. We lose the people we love. Sometimes, the people we love leave us without an answer.¡± She says, taking a swig of the hot beverage. ¡°It is out of our control. All we can do is keep living even when we feel we can¡¯t?¡± she says, looking back at the window. Rasha grabs Kimora¡¯s hand. ¡°I am here for you, girl always.¡± The word always stung Kimora like a knife, for that is always what Enzo would say to her. She choked back the sting in her eye and nodded. After lunch, the project continued, and there was a lot to do. Kimora and Rasha would be in charge of the dress and the details, and the other project members would book it. This made Kimora ecstatic, for she loved working with Rasha and knew they did much of their work from home. Kimora had a huge basement where she kept all her stuff to make the best of the best. Once everything was settled, they all said their farewells and got ready to leave the office. It was a little after six, and Kimora was exhausted. After tidying up the office, Kimora put on her coat and headed out. She drove by a convent store and picked up some flowers, then went to the gravesite and laid them down on his grave. ¡°It isn¡¯t fair, Enzo, that the world took you from me; it isn¡¯t fair that God is punishing me for loving you by taking you from me.¡± She yelled and sobbed with pain in her voice. She gets up, and as the gravesite hits her shaking body, she walks to her car and heads home. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Good evening, dear, welcome home,¡± she heard a low, raspy voice say as she walked through the door. A little woman with grayish-black hair tied in a bun stands there as Kimora hands her things. ¡°Good evening, mama,¡± Kimora says as she heads to her room to get changed. Once there, she notices that the bedding was taken off. She scurries to find his blanket, but she comes up empty while tearing up her room. She enters the living room and sees her mother watching TV. A panic runs through her. ¡°MAMA, where is the blanket?¡± she questions as the older woman looks at her with so much love. ¡°OH, Kimora, I took everything off the bed and threw It in the wash downstairs. It smelled, and so I thought it.¡± Before finishing the sentence, Kimora runs downstairs and opens the washer. As she does, she takes out the blanket and smells it as tears of anger fill her eyes along with sorrow. The older woman comes downstairs, looking at Kimora with concern. ¡°Kimora put that back. You are getting soaked. As the young woman looks up at her with so much hurt and hatred, she states, ¡°You never liked him, mama, and you never wanted me to love him, but this has gone too far.¡± She says with so much hate that her words come out like venom when she speaks them. ¡°Kimora, it isn¡¯t like that,¡± the woman tried to explain but was cut off with a show of a hand. ¡°You took him from me, mama. You took the only thing I had left of him away all because you hated him. Get out,¡± she screams with so much power behind her voice. She hears her footsteps and the door close behind her as she melts down to the floor, crying into the soaking wet blanket. ¡°Enzo, Enzo, come back to me, please. I can¡¯t do this without you. I can''t keep fighting these demons without you, please. She Begged as she took the soaking blanket and placed it into the dryer, knowing she would never smell his scent again. Kimora takes a tote that she keeps forgetting and goes to the attic. Once there, she puts the tote down and hears something knock over. She turns around to pick it up, and when she does, she forgets to breathe as she sees letters upon letters written in Enzo¡¯s handwriting. Kimora grabbed the small box of letters and headed downstairs. She got into her bedroom and picked up one of them. They smelled of him, and it brought a smile to her. As she looked them over, they all had different things on them, which confused her. So, she returned to the first one that had written ¡°Hello¡± on it. She opened it, and as she did, a picture of Enzo fell out. He was younger than maybe his first year of teaching, but he still took her breath away. ¡°Hello, my Heart. I decided to write you a letter about every event we had together, all the memories we shared, and all our laughter, and I hope we are still having them. Tears now fell from Kimona¡¯s eyes as she kept on reading. The only rule I have is you can''t open them until that date; sorry, love, this is the rule, and depending on when you find these letters, you won''t be able to open the first one for another week. So, this is my hello letter; let me reintroduce myself. My name is Enzo Mallio; at the time of this letter, I am 23, and this is my first year of teaching. Soon, my life will change for the better because I will meet a woman who will make me the happiest man alive. I know that when I meet her, she will be my future because I know from the moment I see her fiery personality and smarts, along with her beauty, that nobody else will make me happy. That person you are asking is you, Kimora Mackenzie. She is a fashion designer and one of the best, and this is our story of love, laughter, and hope. SO, Kimora, even though we haven¡¯t met yet. He states in the letter this makes her laugh, knowing he made these a while ago, but she still appreciates the gesture. I want you to know I love you, for you will forever be my heart. Forever your soul Enzo. Kimora smiled as she placed the letter on her nightstand and drifted off to sleep, hoping that she would dream of the man she loved and the man who loved her back, for she was hurting, but she hadn¡¯t given up hope yet.