Nothing Lasts Forever

Prologue

It was hard to believe that my baby was turning three today. Seems like just yesterday I was still pregnant and now she was as grown as she wanted to be. I watched her all after noon, run around with other kids, play games, laugh and smile. I took so many pictures of her stuffing her face with cupcakes and her opening up her gifts. Seeing her happy always put a smile on my face, I was happy that she was having a great birthday, especially since it distracted her from asking me where her father was.

I had no answer to that because just like her and everyone else I was wondering the same thing. He knew what time the party started and I'm positive he didn't get lost seeing that the party was being thrown at his mothers house. I called, texted and left him multiple voice mails but to no avail. I was pissed off but his mom was more upset then I was, she was seeing first hand what I had been dealing with for close to a year now.

"She is going to be knocked out by the time you get down the street," Ms. Sheila smiled taking a seat next to me from where I watched Kaliyah and the other kids chase after the bubbles that Braeden was blowing.

"Hopefully."

One thing about Kaliyah is she was very energetic and curious. She always wanted to play and when she wasn't playing she was asking questions. She was three but she was going on thirty. She could read and write and hold conversations better than most of the adults I knew. She was my little mini me, always requesting that we dress alike and to top it all off she loved to dance. I took her with me most days to work down at my studio. There she was a little celebrity. Everyone knew her by name and she was very charismatic and loving.

Speaking of dance my business was booming. I loved what I did and I didn't think I was going to be such a success but I was wrong. Not only was my business a success but I was as well. Last year someone posted videos of me online from one of my dance classes and all of a sudden everyone wanted more. We had our own website, YouTube page and my followers on all of my social media sites tripled overnight it seemed.

People who didn't even know me were all of a sudden interested in me and my life. Of course I only showed them so much, putting most of the focus on my dancing. I even got hired to choreograph a few music videos and even got invited out to dance on the World of Dance Tour on several occasions. I didn't care about the fame though, I just loved to dance and along the way it opened up many doors for me.

People ask me all the time why don't I just move to California, become a famous choreographer, professional dancer but I was happy with what I was doing.

"Still no word from him," Ms. Sheila asked me.

The smile on my face started to fade, "Nope."

I had blown up his phone enough and at this point I wondered why I was still with him. Why I put up with his bullshit. The party was about to wind down completely, most of the kids had already gone home and he had missed out on everything.

Another hour had gone by and by now all the other kids had gone home. It was just me, Kaliyah, Ms. Sheila, Braeden and Danielle. Kaliyah was in the living room playing while I cleaned up with the help of Danielle and Ms. Sheila.

"What do you want to do with the leftover cupcakes," Danielle asked.

"Keep a few for Kaliyah I guess but you guys can take the rest."

"You don't want any for yourself," Ms. Sheila asked me.

"Summer is just around the corner," I reminded her, "I have to get in shape."

"You dance for a living, you are in shape."

I smiled but before I could respond the doorbell rang and Ms. Sheila went to go get it but I'm pretty sure I knew