Chapter 1

Pablo Cotilla smiled at the new student who was reading by himself in the corner of the classroom before extending his right hand. “Hey there. I’m Pablo Cotilla. I’m seven years old. What’s your name?”

The boy didn’t react. Instead, he appeared to stiffen for a brief moment before turning to face and stare at Pablo. Pablo grinned wider at the other boy’s widening blue eyes before taking in the sight of the mop of messy dark-brown hair. His cheerfulness dimmed a little when the other boy continued to remain silent. He was about to give up and walk away when he felt the other boy’s hand gripping tightly around his left wrist and tugged at it. He tentatively beamed at the other boy and let out a sigh of relief when it was returned with seemingly equal amount of hesitation.

“I’m…I’m Kee…Keenan Underwood.”

Pablo nodded with more enthusiasm now. “Are you new here?”

Keenan glanced away for a second or two before locking eyes with Pablo once again. “Yes. My dad has a new job.”

Pablo shifted much closer to Keenan before slinging one arm over the boy’s shoulders. “Okay. We’re going to be best friends forever and ever.”

Keenan gaped at Pablo. “Really? We’re best friends?”

“Of course.”

Keenan shot Pablo a delighted expression. “Okay. Best friends. Forever and ever.”

Pablo was elated. He liked the other boys and girls in his class, but he had never had a best friend. He had never felt an instant connection with anyone the way he did with Keenan. From that day onward, the two of them did everything together. Some of their activities together were nice, but they would also do a lot of naughty things, which landed them in plenty of trouble, both in school and at home. However, they were always inseparable, and they had a lot of fun together. Pablo was certain he and Keenan would be best friends for the rest of their lives together. Or so he thought. Five years later, Keenan’s dad got a promotion at work, and the whole family would have to move to New York, which meant Pablo would be left behind all alone in San Francisco without his best friend in the whole wide world. At least that was what it felt like to Pablo. Their last evening together was spent with a sleepover at Pablo’s house.

“Kee?” Pablo whispered softly while holding onto Keenan’s hands as they lay in bed in the dark side by side.

“Yeah?”

Pablo gulped when he noticed Keenan’s raspy and gruff tone of voice. His best friend was obviously trying not to cry. He didn’t want to shed any tears either. He wanted their last evening together to be perfect.

“Promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t forget about us. Ever.”

“I—”

Keenan’s breath hitched, and Pablo pretended he couldn’t see the tears streaming down his best friend’s cheeks. The lights in the bedroom might be off, but there was enough light coming in through the window from the outside. Moreover, his eyesight had already adjusted to the lack of light. He abandoned his resolve not to cry. Instead, he pulled Keenan close to him before burying his face right against his best friend’s chest and sobbing as quietly as he managed to.

“Promise me.”

“I promise I’ll never forget about you. We will be best…best friends forever.”

Pablo clenched his fists around the collars of Keenan’s shirt as the tears flowed more freely now. He did his best not to make a sound, but he lost the battle when Keenan tightened both arms around him. The two of them continued to sob under the cover of the darkness until the exhaustion overwhelmed them. They fell asleep still clutching onto each other. They remained in the same position when they woke up early the next morning. Judging by their lethargic movements, neither of them could find the energy within them to be strong and cheerful. Pablo almost cried again when he had to bid farewell to Keenan when his best friend’s parents stopped by to pick him up from the Cotilla house for the last time. However, he somehow succeeded in stopping the tears. Instead, he smiled and waved at Keenan, who did the same to him before getting into the car. He stood in front of the house and stared at the car until he couldn’t see it anymore. Then he made his way back inside.

For the next several years, he and Keenan kept in touch with each other by e-mails. Then they exchanged text messages and called each other up once in a while. They were also in touch with each other via various social media platforms. They updated each other about many things that occurred in their lives. They also made plans to meet up, but those never happened. Pablo did his best to write to Keenan, and he could tell his best friend was doing the same thing. Unfortunately, all the best intentions in the world sometimes couldn’t make things work out no matter how much they attempted to maintain their long-distance friendship. Gradually, the e-mails, text messages, phone calls, and messages on the different social media platforms began to dwindle. They were both busy leading their own lives with new friends and acquaintances that had nothing to do with each other. Even though they did their best to share their experiences with each other, things simply didn’t feel the same between them anymore. After a while, their friendship started to fade away, and they both moved on with their lives. 1

Keenan ignored the loud thumping of his heart against his chest as he watched the representative from the other company, who was sitting on the chair across the table from him inside the conference room, sign on the dotted line. It was another successful transaction, and the value of the contract was more than five hundred million dollars, which officially made him the best salesperson in the pharmaceutical firm he worked at in San Francisco. He still had more than two months before the deadline of his annual goal, which was the thirty-first of December, but he exceeded his target by a large margin. At the risk of sounding conceited and arrogant, he knew he was excellent at his job. That was the reason why he was one of the few senior sales managers at the firm at the tender age of twenty-eight. He cleared his throat softly and got up on his feet before shaking hands with the other company’s representative.