With Me Forever

“Hey.” Vincent rose to pull out the other chair of their favorite small, two-seated round table in the corner.

“Hey. Thank you,” Tamia said as she sat down.

“I went ahead and ordered your favorite,” he smiled.

“Thank you,” she slightly nodded and returned a faint smile.

“So. How’s it going? I was pretty surprised to hear from you. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, yes. I know.” Tamia sank her head.

“One cappuccino with three shots of espresso, extra hot,” the waitress lowered the steaming cup and saucer in front of her, placing a little spoon beside the cup.

Tamia thanked her and peered down at the cool design swirled into her java.

She could tell it was supposed to be menacing, with its big, slanted eyes and its fangy grin. But the eyes seemed to be slanted in the wrong direction, and the grin was just so that she thought the creamy white face actually looked quite friendly.

It was the evening before Halloween, and this coffee shop always loved to get into the spirit. That was part of why Tamia had always appreciated it. That and its later-than-usual hours, since she’d long deemed herself a card-carrying night owl.

“Are you sure I can’t get you anything, sir?” the waitress turned to Vincent.

He nodded. “I’m sure. Thank you.”

“Alright, if either of you needs anything else, I’m just a shout away!”

As she walked off, Tamia’s and Vincent’s returned their attention to one another.

“So? What’s going on?” Vincent spoke first. “Did something happen? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Well, then what is it? Why have you been so distant lately? I’ve been needing to see you, and you haven’t taken any of my calls, haven’t been returning my texts…”

“I know! I know.”

“Okay, so, what gives, love?”

Tamia lowered her head again.

“It’s okay, you can tell me. You can tell me anyth—”

“I met somebody.”

The words lingered in the warm, bean-scented air a few moments. Vincent’s eyes narrowed as he leaned in, trying to process.

“Umm o…k—”

“I’m sorry,” said Tamia. “I wanted to tell you in person.”

“But wait. Does this me—”

“Look, Vincent. I love you, you know I do. But… I’ve met someone… And he’s pretty great. He’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of. He’s sweet, he’s smart, funny... He’s loving—"

“W—w—wait.. Does this mean—Are you saying we have to stop seeing each other?”

“Vincent.”

“What? I’m just trying to make sure I’m clear on what’s happening.”

“Of course that’s what it means...”

“But I—I don’t’ understand.”

Tamia sighed and then reached across the table, taking his cold hand into hers.

“Look. I’ve really enjoyed knowing you. You’ve helped me survive. To live. When we first met, I was at… a pretty low point… in my life.”

Vincent’s face scrunched as Tamia continued.

“I didn’t have any family. No friends. No husband or boyfriend. And then… you came along.”

She slightly squeezed his hand.

“That one cold night—I remember it like it was just yesterday. I was out for a long walk, basically contemplating my life,” she lightly chuckled. “And whether there was even much point in continuing it, honestly. I felt so…lonely. So alone. So sad. So…tired.” Raspy emotion filled her words. “And there you seemed to appear, out of nowhere. And you smiled at me.” She smiled at the memory. “I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had smiled at me. You actually asked what was wrong. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been asked that either. You honestly were the nicest person I’d ever met. Nicer to me than anyone had ever been. You made me feel like I could share so much with you. That I could be myself and be okay…with you.”

“You made me feel that way, too, Tamia.”e

“I know.”

“So, then, I don’t understand what’s changed—why we can’t still be—”

“Vincent. I can’t…be with you… and also be in a relationship with someone. You know that.”

“But why not?” His face was filled with anguish.

Tamia flinched for a second before she sighed more deeply.

Vincent glanced at her cup, the steam slowly fading. “And aren’t you going to drink your cappuccino?”

“Oh, I don’t… I don’t really need that anymore. I should’ve just asked for a water.”

Vincent’s eyes widened with surprise and more confusion.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll pay you for it—”

“Don’t…worry about it.”

Tamia tried to find the right words to continue. She caressed his hand as she gazed at him intently.

“Vincent. As much as you helped me at that time in my life—to feel more of myself. To feel more me. To feel more alive—I’d felt more than honored to do the same for you. To help you feel more you. To help you be more alive.”

“Yes, and I’ve always thanked you for that. We’ve always been there for each other!”

“But what that requires—helping you in that way—just can’t continue.”

“Tamia, please!! I mean, why would he ever even have to know?!”

“Vincent.”

“I’m serious! I honestly don’t see why this has to change anything?!?”

“For a long time, helping you in that way hadn’t felt like a big deal because…even though it left me drained, I figured that was a small price to pay for how you were helping me in exchange. And I figured, what’s the worst that could happen? I could die? Well, I’d already braced myself for that anyway.”

“Okay, so…”

“So now, I want to live, Vincent.”

“But you are living, Tamia. You have been living…just fine.”

“No, I mean really live. For the first time in my life. I want to live—to be alive with… Joe.”

“Joe? That’s his name? Joe?!”

Her eyes flickered at him as his veered away.

She looked down at her now-cooled cup to see the eyes of the white face had swirled in the opposite direction, and its smile was deeper, making it now appear more menacing than before.

“I want to be fully me with Joe, Vincent. Fully alive. Which just isn’t possible as long as we—”

“Okay, so then I won’t take so much!!”

“Vincent, even besides that, I mean… What we do is…intimate—”

“What?! No, it’s not.”

“Oh come on, you’ve never thought about it that way?”

“Tamia, it’s literally needing a supply and providing a demand.”

“Oh really, that’s all you’ve seen it as…”

“That’s all it is!!” Vincent shouted, slightly startling Tamia, and briefly quieting a few onlookers who’d looked over at their table to see the commotion.

“Crazy me,” said Tamia. “I’d always thought we were more.”

“I mean, of course, we were. We are. I’ve loved you and needed you like I’ve never needed another human being!”

“Well, then you should love me enough to know this can’t continue, and I have to walk away.”

They both sat in silence a few moments.

“I mean… We can still be… friends—” said Tamia.

Vincent’s eyes darted in her direction. “You know we could never be friends.”

“Vincent,” she said with softening, moistening eyes, lowered to see the face in the cup had dissolved completely, leaving only a circle of muddy brown. “I’m sorry.”

His eyes also softened as a very faint smile curled in his lips.

“You know I’m going to miss you,” he sighed. “You’ll be with me forever.”

Tamia forced another faint smile back. “I’m going to miss you, and you’ll be with me, too. More than you could ever know.”

Vincent’s hand laid on top of hers.

Tamia thought she’d try one last ditch effort for an ongoing olive branch.

“Could we at least maybe… I don’t know, from time to time, keep in touch?”

Vincent reflected.

“Maybe,” he smiled more fully. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”

Tamia cupped her other hand over theirs, as he did the same.

“So… I guess this is it, then?” said Vincent.

“I guess it…is.”

“Should we just…” Vincent motioned towards the exit.

“Yeah, I think so.”

They both rose as Vincent dropped a ten-dollar bill on the table.

They walked into the cold, quiet night as Tamia prepared for her short walk home.

“A hug?” She turned and gestured to Vincent.

“Yes, of course,” he said as he embraced, feeling her immense warmth, which almost warmed him up, as always.

As they embraced, Vincent whispered in her ear. “One last time?”

Tamia took a few seconds to answer.

“One last time,” she finally whispered back.

Vincent smiled fully again as he lowered his lips towards her neck, quickly glancing around to ensure this was a private moment.

A few bystanders walked nearby but each in their own world—heavily engaged in conversation with the person beside them, ferociously texting on their phone, jamming to some tunes through their earphones, or trying to hurry out of the cold and into their apartment building. An occasional car drove by.

Vincent found his usual spot. The two tiny circles had almost healed but not completely, making it easier to revisit.

As his teeth pushed through, his eyes flashed—their whites quickly turning from orange to red. Their chestnut-brown rapidly fading to pitch black.

He clenched her tightly as she braced herself for this final time.

As he took her in, Tamia soon found herself more faint than normal.

Reflexively, she began to try to pull away, but she wasn’t able to.

“Vincent,” she whispered in a soft panic.

But all she heard beside the familiar sound of light sucking was the equally unfamiliar sound of her quickening heartbeat, set against the distant buzz of the night city all around them.

“Vincent,” she said more forcefully. Only, he clenched tighter, as she tried harder to back away.

“Vinc—”

One of his hands cupped her mouth before she could finish.

He lifted his lips from her neck for a moment.

“I’m sorry, love,” he gently whispered in her ear.

He sank his teeth back in and more deeply as she tried with fading resolve to scream through his frigid pale hand.

Warm tears began streaming down her face as her muffled cries went unanswered.

Her enlarged wet eyes bulged out, frantically bouncing around, desperately trying to see if anyone noticed, hoping to catch someone’s attention.

But the same as before, everyone walked, talked, and texted on, unaware of what was happening or Tamia’s anguished pleas.

Vincent could hear his name through her cries, and still, he continued.

Soon, Tamia’s screams and cries became weaker and weaker as her complexion simultaneously became lighter.

Her heartbeat became slower.

And slower.

Until all that could be heard was the light background buzz of the city.

Vincent continued for another minute…before he finally stopped.

Before he had to stop.

Before there was no way for him to continue.

He felt her familiar warmth quickly fading as he pulled away his dripping, crimson-soaked teeth.

He quickly surveyed the area, for any possible nosy strangers, again.

Still in their own world.

With a strength inside him unlike anything he’d ever felt and while still in their embraced position, he slightly lifted Tamia, raising her feet a foot off the ground, and calmly moved over to a bench nearby.

He carefully lowered her onto the bench, seeing her eyes again for the first time since right before they’d begun their embrace minutes before.

They were wide, moist, and clearly in shock.

He gently lowered her eyelids and laid her against one of the bench arms.

“Take care, my sweet Tamia,” he said as he stepped back, studying her one last time.

“You’re with me forever,” he uttered before turning and walking off into the night.