Roderick Von King
Published: 2023-11-21
Total Pages: 536
Get eBook
Why didn't we love? Why did we try to hide what was deep inside?" Bobby Vail thought as he pondered his failed relationship with the love of his life. If you have ever truly loved someone who did not return his/her love to you, then you can understand the gut-wrenching pain and mental anguish it can cause, as well as the insatiable need to find answers to such tormenting questions. This book takes you on a roller coaster of love that journeys through college life, the professional work place, the ten-year high school reunion, marriage, divorce, death, church, skiing vacations, and romantic cruises. You will experience joy and pain and a myriad of other emotions dealt by true-life experiences. As a 1972 high school All-American scholar athlete, Bobby Vail did not pursue his athletic or musical dreams, but attended a small private university in Los Angeles to be near his cousin, Ronnie Cole, one of the leading black actors in Hollywood. There he meets the beautiful Monica Devoreaux, from New Orleans, Louisiana, and falls head over heels in love with her. She does not immediately return his love, charting the course for a chase that spanned two decades, in which bad timing, personal circumstances, and other obstacles keeps them apart. Monica's desire for independence and the good life gets her caught up with a rich man 16 years her senior, and she gets trapped in the relationship. The genuine friendship that Bobby and Monica developed is the element that keeps them involved in each other's life. They explore issues of politics, race, and religion, which generate some strong differences of opinion. Bobby's job as a project engineer for a national defense company sets the stage for intrigue. He gets thrown in the middle of a cover up and has to decide whether or not to stand alone against the white corporate establishment. Bobby, a true romantic who loves love, unmasks certain male stereotypes and brings a fresh, honest depiction of the male psyche with regard to male-female relationships. He displays his emotions, his hardness, his vulnerabilities, his passions, his pains, and his shortcomings, all in an attempt to remain down to earth in keeping with his father's teachings. Bobby reaches the pinnacle of success, which is attributed to a strong two-parent family, a powerful father figure, and a moral upbringing. Bobby Vail learned that life is precious and you have to take it seriously. He reflects on whether the course of his life was dictated by random events and circumstances, fate, or simply good and bad choices.