Room 212

by Kate Stewart

The sheets were still a tangled mess. The room was untouched. I knew today was the day I should clean Room 212 and leave the memory of him behind.

The whirring sound of the air flowing into the room took me back to the last time I had heard it. I was lying on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. I felt a rush of tears and let them fall. I was alone after all. No one could see me. No one ever really saw me, until he saw me.

Indulgence was mine. I was entitled. After the last six months of my life, I was entitled to love him just a few minutes longer, before I resumed my life as it was before he came and ruined it again.

I glanced at the stupid fool staring back at me in the mirror. Her green eyes were swollen and glaring at me. Her menacing stare was full of hate. Her jaw was tight and her lips were barely visible due to her pressing them together firmly in a thin line. She was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. But beneath the surface of that pale skin was something far worse…a heart that was still beating for him.

My name is Laura Sedgwick and I hate love. It had ruined every single day of my life for as long as I could remember and today I declared war on it, for the second time.

“I’m a firm believer that if you want something, you have to make it happen. The world owes you nothing, but you can take your piece of it. All you have to do is work hard and claim it.”

“I never said I was a nice girl.” “No, no, you warned me you were a mad bitch.” “I will be tomorrow, too.” His fingertip caught me by the chin and he carefully pecked my lips. “And I look forward to it.”

“Your laugh, the way your voice is raspy in the morning when you wake up, the arch of your perfect feet, the way your hair falls over your face when you’re on top of me, the way this feels right now and every time I’m with you.”

“You know, Laura Lynn, our God is a jealous God. If you love something more than him, he is bound to take it away. Very few people in this world get a chance to spend their life with their first love. It’s a gift only a select few get. Love is a lot of things, but it is not kind.”