Still by Rae Lamar

One | Hello

"Who's your Hello?"

The not-so-innocent question slipped from Kiva Burke's plum-stained mouth as a commercial interrupted the college football national title game that her fiancé had been intently watching. The buds Kiva had in her ears were now in her lap, connected to her smartphone that had just played a soul-stirring song that had been eliciting a series of unwelcome, overwhelming memories since she'd first listened to it before Thanksgiving.

When Todd didn't offer a reply, she mistook his lack of response for misunderstanding and tried again. "You can't tell me you haven't heard that song before. The world stopped rotating for like five seconds when it dropped back in November."

"A whole five seconds, huh?" His mouth twitched in amusement. "Forever dramatic, you are...yeah, I kind of heard it but not really."

"It's a pretty hard one to ignore," Kiva replied. "Not to mention it's been shattering all kinds of global records...but that's not my point."

Todd finally looked at her. "What is your point?"

Kiva pushed one of her buds into his left ear, accessed the music app on her phone and pressed PLAY. "Listen."

Todd was disinterested for the better part of a minute but then his eyes changed. She would've missed it had she not been looking for it to happen.

Everyone had a Hello.

Kiva continued to watch him though Todd didn't give very much away...but it was enough for her to recognize what she was seeing given that the song had affected her in a similar way weeks ago. Truthfully, she'd been floored by the lyrics but honesty wasn't something she cared to embrace then or now or ever because the reality was that Kiva's world had stopped turning when she first heard the song. But it wasn't because she was a card-carrying Daydreamer like all the other super fans of the soulful British singer...it was the fact that the song instantly brought back memories of him.

He had been in her head every day since — when she woke, when she ate, when she drove, when she worked, when she showered, when she turned in for bed at night. Thoughts of him goaded her, almost compelling her to do things that were unquestionably irresponsible. Like reach out to him, talk to him, see him...

The song was over.

Todd removed the bud from his ear and continued watching the game like all was still right in his world. It relieved and tormented Kiva all at once, the former producing gratitude because Todd's indifference signaled that there seemed to be no one significant in his past to interrupt her future while the latter triggered shame because she couldn't say the same.

"The song is all right," Todd finally mumbled.

She hesitated. "So who's your Hello?"

"Seriously?"

Kiva simply stared, allowing her silence to speak volumes.

"I don't know," he replied, running a hand over his face. "Who's yours?"

Her heart seized as she casually dropped her eyes to kill the music app on her phone. "I asked you first."

It happened that quickly.

The texture of the conversation had changed.

Two people who were once able to share anything with each other and now...now, they were both suddenly pensive. Apprehensive. Edgy.

Awkward.

Kiva bit her lip, approaching the point of no return. She could laugh it off and sweep it all under the rug. It shouldn't matter. It hadn't in the two years they'd been together nor the night Todd had proposed to her. She could forget it all — the song, the memories, everything — but it was too late. What was conjured could no longer stay buried...and Kiva's sudden need to purge superseded her common sense.