The Sweet Addiction
623 Words
Love did not arrive slowly for Kenneth and Bertha.
It crashed into them.
Like fire meeting dry grass.
The more time they spent together, the harder it became to stay apart. Every phone call became longer. Every goodbye became more difficult. Every touch carried tension neither of them wanted to resist.
Bertha became Kenneth’s peace.
And Kenneth became the center of Bertha’s world.
The city lights glittered softly outside Kenneth’s apartment window that Friday night as rain tapped gently against the glass.
Bertha sat on his couch wearing one of his oversized shirts, her legs folded beneath her while soft music played quietly in the background.
Kenneth couldn’t stop looking at her.
Not because she was beautiful
though she was dangerously beautiful,but because she made his heavy life feel lighter.
“You keep staring at me,” Bertha said softly, smiling without looking up from her phone.
Kenneth leaned against the kitchen counter, arms folded.
“Can you blame me?”
She laughed quietly.
That laugh always did something to him.
Something warm. Something addictive.
Kenneth walked toward her slowly.
Bertha looked up this time.
And for a moment, neither of them spoke.
The air changed.
It always changed whenever they looked at each other too long.
Kenneth sat beside her, close enough to feel the warmth of her skin.
“You know,” he said quietly, brushing her hair behind her ear, “I wasn’t looking for anybody when I met you.”
Bertha’s eyes softened.
“Me too.”
“But now?”
Kenneth smiled faintly.
“Now I don’t know how I survived before you.”
Bertha’s heart melted at his words.
Not because they sounded perfect.
But because they sounded honest.
Their relationship became deeper with every passing day.
Kenneth showed her parts of himself nobody else saw.
The pressure.
The fears.
The frustration of trying so hard and still struggling.
And Bertha listened.
She encouraged him when business was bad.
Stayed awake with him during stressful nights.
Held him whenever he felt tired of fighting life.
Sometimes they talked for hours.
Sometimes they said nothing at all.
And somehow… silence between them still felt intimate.
Soon, their love became impossible to hide.
Friends noticed the way Kenneth smiled whenever Bertha’s name appeared on his phone.
Bertha noticed how Kenneth’s entire mood changed whenever she entered a room.
They were becoming consumed by each other.
And neither of them cared.
One evening, they went out for dinner at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the city.
The wind moved gently through Bertha’s hair while Kenneth watched her across the table with that same intense look she had grown used to.
“What?” she asked shyly.
Kenneth shook his head slowly.
“You’re too beautiful.”
Bertha laughed softly.
“You always say that.”
“Because it’s true.”
She looked away, blushing.
Kenneth reached for her hand across the table.
“I’m serious, Bertha.”
His voice became lower.
“When I’m with you… everything feels different.”
Bertha squeezed his hand gently.
For the first time in a very long time, she felt safe.
Wanted.
Loved.
Later that night, they walked through quiet streets under the glow of streetlights.
Bertha rested her head on Kenneth’s shoulder while he wrapped an arm around her waist protectively.
“Promise me something,” she whispered.
Kenneth looked down at her.
“What?”
“No matter how hard life gets… don’t shut me out.”
Kenneth stopped walking.
He lifted her chin gently.
“I would never do that to you.”
But life has a cruel way of testing promises people make in beautiful moments.
And neither of them knew that the very thing Bertha feared most… was already beginning.
- Writer
