One Heart, Two Destinies

It is 10 AM in the morning, and Kehlani is cooking pancakes and eggs for a lazy Sunday. Simon, her boyfriend, lays in the living room sofa, binging on his TV show. Kehlani saw her phone binged at the corner of her eyes, and saw the contact, “Maybe: Elijah”. Elijah? She hasn’t heard that name since high school. She turns off the stove and looks at the text. 

Hey it’s been awhile, but if you want, we can catch up like we used to-Elijah

Is it wrong to rekindle with your old best friend? Kehlani knows that Simon feels a type of way with guy friends and can get overprotective, but she doesn't want to pass up this opportunity. 

Sure, we can meet at the coffee shop at noon?-Kehlani

Sure, see ya then-Elijah

Kehlani smiles warmly, a feeling she hadn’t felt in a while. She can genuinely hang out with a boy, and it can be a little secret. 

“Babe, have you finished breakfast yet?” Simon asks. 

“I’m almost done,” Kehlani says, putting her phone away quickly. 

“You better, I’m starving,” he grumbles. Can he ever be patient? It’s not like he cooks…

Kehlani brought the pancakes and eggs to the living room to eat. Simon looks at the food and his face scrunches in anger. 

“You forgot the sausages,” Simon hiss. 

“You rushed me babe. I could’ve made it if you aren’t so impatient,” Kehlani scoffs. Simon gives her a look.

“So you’re blaming me?”.

“N-No babe, I’m just saying since I mostly cook, you shouldn’t really complain-” Kehlani stopped as Simon gave her a deathly look. Why does he terrify her so much?

“You don’t hear me complain when I pay the bills, right? So don’t make me the bad guy who just wants a decent breakfast,” he hiss. She nods. He constantly points the blame to her whenever she brings up what he does. 

Kehlani already ate breakfast and is about to leave. Finally, away from him for a little while. He ruined my bubbly feeling this morning. 

“Where are you going?” Simon roars behind her. 

“To get some groceries,” Kehlani says.

“Don’t we have enough already? You just love spending the money I earned,” he grumbles. 

“I-It’s not like that. I’m getting the food you want more at home. I know you love the pasta I made last week.”

“Hmm, true. Fine. Be back by a few hours,” Simon says and went back to our bedroom. Perfect. Kehlani is going to disable her location and make an excuse that her battery was low. 

She sits in the corner of the coffee shop, nerves edging her on. She can only be out for a few before Simon starts getting concerned. 

Then, a guy enters the shop, wearing an overcoat and dreads hanging over his head. Is that Elijah? She never remembered his hair being that long. 

The guy then looks at Kehlani and waves. “Kehlani, long time no see!”.

“Hey,” she says shyly as he sits down. 

“ I miss you man, it's been several years since we talked,” Elijah says. Up close, she can see more features of him from high school, but he grew up.

“Yeah...I miss you too,” Kehlani adds, smiling widely. She feels nothing but butterflies with him. This is just nerves. 

“So, what’s up with you?” he asks as he orders coffee.

“Well, I settled in this town and mostly been chilling.” 

“Oh chilling? I’m guessing you have a boyfriend that works,” he giggles. Kehlani looks away. 

“Yeah…,” Kehlani says.

“That’s great man. You always have everything before I do, but I ain’t jealous of you,” he smiles. “In fact, I’m happy for you. You deserve to be happy. He treats you right?”. She nods, even though it was a lie. 

“Good, that’s definitely good,” he mumbles as he sips his coffee. 

“So, how are you doing?” Kehlani asks. 

“I’m doing good. Just finished my Associates in Communications. Hoping I can land a job here and work my way up,” he says. 

“Wait, you moved here?”.

“Yeah, recently. I figured if I’m going to get a job here, might as well be close to it.” 

“Interesting,” Kehlani mumbles under her breath. So it can be easier to see him... 

They finished their coffees and split their way. Even though it was only a reunion, Kehlani couldn’t wait to see him again. Just as friends, right?

She’s home on time. She made sure to get groceries so he wouldn’t be suspicious. Simon is napping. As she was cooking, she received a text from Elijah.

It was fun today. I’m hoping to see you again if your boyfriend is cool with it-Elijah

She thought of a way to respond to this. She can just lie that Simon’s fine with it. 

Totally. He’s pretty chill and won’t think of us as nothing more than friends hanging out- Kehlani

Awesome, so we can see each other next week, cool?-Elijah

Kehlani knows keeping secrets is bad, but Simon controls her. He never allowed her to have guy friends and interact with certain people. This is what he gets anyways.

Sounds like a plan- Kehlani

Elijah suggested to go to the park next, especially an area where it’s private. Kehlani’s heart flutters at the thought of being alone with him. No one would be around to see them. 

Kehlani made an excuse that she was going to see her friend today. Of course, Simon can’t object since it was a “female” friend. Instead of being mean about it, Simon gave Kehlani a sweet kiss. 

“Be safe babe. I’m sorry if I was being hard on you recently. My job has been stressing me out and I promise to treat you better since you’ve been holding the fort,” Simon says gently as he held her tightly before letting her leave. That was new for Kehlani, she couldn’t comprehend that niceness. But she didn’t want to be late, so she pushed that thought away and went to see Elijah.

Elijah waited for her and gave her a warm hug since it’s still the middle of winter. The weather isn’t that cold, but definitely chilly. 

“Are you okay?” Elijah asks, looking at Kehlani. 

“Yeah, I’m fine thanks for asking,” she says. Simon rarely asks me how her day was. He would just dismiss her feelings and expect everything in the house to be ready for him. Even though his job stressed him out, it ain’t right to take it out on her. 

They sat on the grass, away from people strolling through the park. It’s just Elijah and Kehlani now. 

“Tell me, how did you meet your boyfriend?” he asks. Kehlani didn’t wanna talk about him, but she didn’t want to disappoint Elijah. 

“We met 3 years ago at our same college class before I dropped out. We became friends to help each other pass the semester and eventually we catch feelings for each other and we’ve been dating this whole time. I dropped out since I couldn’t afford college, but he offered me to live with him so he can take care of me,” Kehlani says. 

“Wow, he must care about you a lot. You’re lucky to have someone like that,” Elijah says. Kehlani scoffs under her breath. 

“Relationships aren't as magical as it seems. We do have our rough days,” she adds. 

“Understandable, but if he’s treating you right, then I know y’all can work out the bad stuff,” he says looking at her. Kehlani’s eyes lowen. 

“Well, do you have a girlfriend?” she asks. Elijah shook his head. 

“Been single since high school. I don’t know why, I guess girls are barely attracted to me,” he laughs. 

“Well they must be blind then,” Kehlani says. Elijah looks at her. 

“I’m not that attractive Kehlani,” he hastily giggles. She shook her head.

“Stop saying that. You’re beautiful in my eyes,” she says, scooting closer. 

“Probably not as much as your boyfriend. I bet he looks better than me.” Kehlani keeps denying as she pulls up Simon’s Instagram page. 

“Here, he may be handsome, but so are you,” she shows him. Elijah looks intensely before just nodding. 

“Okay, you win,” he smiles. 

She couldn’t stop staring at Elijah, especially his dreads cascading along his neck. She knows at this point, her feelings towards Elijah aren't friendly. It’s more. But she couldn’t help it. Elijah made her feel safe and warm. He listens and pays attention to what she says. Something Simon can’t do. 

Kehlani continues seeing Elijah every week, from parks to movies and restaurants. Kehlani of course made up excuses for getting the house often. Especially during the movies, she chose horror movies so when the scary part comes on, she would clutch on Elijah for “safety”. As much as she hints that she finds him attractive, he refers to her as just a friend. 

Simon on the other hand, surprising enough, isn’t asking questions about her whereabouts like he used to. However, Kehlani would try to be intimate with him, but he keeps pushing her away, saying he got “work to do.” So much for promising to treat me better, she thought.

Kehlani knew she needed something stronger for Elijah to realize that she’s unhappy in her relationship. As much as she doesn't want to cheat, her feelings for Elijah are undeniable. She decides to text him, but this time, she’s going to his house for the first time. 

Hey Elijah, I want to ask you something- Kehlani

Wassup?-Elijah

Can we go to your house?-Kehlani

His response took a minute, nerves swelling inside her. 

That’s new. Is your boyfriend okay with this?-Elijah

Yeah he is, and plus I have something to tell you when I get there-Kehlani

Well, if he’s cool with it, then I have no problem you coming over-Elijah

Cool, see ya then- Kehlani

She hurried and got dressed like usual, sneaking booze under the cabinet in case things go left. She can blame the alcohol. She expects Simon to say something to her before she leaves since it's mid evening. He doesn’t pop out. He’s probably sleeping. But she carefully closes the apartment door without making any noise. Time to see Elijah, and this time, she’s hoping they can be more than friends.

Kehlani heads to his apartment. Elijah in his plain tee and shorts welcomed her in. Before he could ask anything, Kehlani offered to drink. Elijah shrugs as he drinks with her. Kehlani is smirking in her head. I can finally say how I feel without this weight against me.

Elijah and Kehlani sat on the couch, the TV playing. Now it's time for her to say everything. 

“Elijah, I’m meant to tell you this a long time ago. But, ever since we rekindled our friendship, I had feelings for you. You see, I lie about my boyfriend treating me right. He actually makes me scared of him, he controls me and ever since I moved in with him, it's like I owe him everything since he took me in to care for me. But I don’t care anymore, you show me what I need in a man. A man that… cares how I feel and actually listens to what I have to say. You gave me more fulfilling moments in our short span of time than my whole 3 years with my boyfriend,” Kehlani scoots close, her arms around him, going for a kiss. Elijah didn’t say anything for a minute as she kissed him. She feels as though he can reciprocate those feelings, but he pushed her back. 

“Kehlani I’m sorry, but we can’t do this,” he says, getting up. Kehlani lays on the couch, confused.

“W-Why? I told you, my boyfriend treats me like shit,” she proclaims. 

“Oh I treat you like shit?” a familiar voice brought fear to Kehlani. No… it can't be.. 

“Like I said, I’m sorry Kehlani, but this is for the best,” Elijah kept going back as Kehlani’s fear in her eyes saw her confirmation. Simon. 

“S-S-Simon what are you doing here?” Kehlani gasps, going against the couch. Simon never looked so calm in her life. 

“Thanks to Elijah contacting me on Instagram, I would’ve never figured out that you were cheating on me and saying that I’m a terrible boyfriend,” Simon hisses. Kehlani’s face was full of shock and betrayal from Elijah. 

“H-How could you tell him this?” Kehlani sobs. 

“I had a feeling you liked me more than a friend. But I didn’t want to make things worse so I made you show his social media to contact him and tell him my suspicions. You can figure out why he began to ask your whereabouts less and less,” he says. Kehlani was speechless.

“Also, if you think you're smart, think again. Elijah is actually a good friend of mine as well from college. But you never bothered to know my friend group since I “treated” you badly,” Simon says. 

“But you did Simon! I’m not going to excuse my cheating, but you’ve been treating me like I don’t mean anything to you,” Kehlani hiss. 

“And you never bother to tell me about this between us. Instead of talking to me like a mature person, you went behind my back and cheated. I will continue to apologize for the way I treated you, but you didn’t give me a chance. And now with this, it’s too late,” Simon says as he begins to leave.

“Simon, please come back, this was all a mistake,” Kehlani cries out as she tries to stop him. But Simon didn’t stop.

“It’s too late. My trust is broken and I’m not going to help you no more. I expect you to move out within the end of the month,” he says finally before he left the apartment. Just like that, her life changed forever.