Eli’s POV
I told myself it was fine.
Maybe she was tired.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyd9aibOoO4
Maybe she’d forgotten.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxAkFWShxv
Maybe it was just one night.
But I knew better.
Mara didn’t miss things. Not like this.
It started small—the usual playlist never came. No message. No subtle emoji with a song link. Nothing.
I still showed up at the café. Still took Table Nine. Still ordered two coffees, like muscle memory was smarter than my pride.
She didn’t come.
The next night, same thing.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJRD6rAdvw
And the night after that.
On the third night, I didn’t order coffee. I just sat there, staring at the chair across from me like it had betrayed me.
I tried telling myself we weren’t anything. Not really. We hadn’t kissed. We hadn’t confessed. We hadn’t even made promises.
But her absence…29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fVT6hRtGH
It hollowed out the room.
When I got home, I paced for over an hour. Thought about calling her. Thought about walking to her building. I even opened a blank message three times just to type:
Are you okay?
But I never hit send.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGNoDtpGUz
Because I wasn’t sure what scared me more—29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fbWC2tzCz
that she wouldn’t reply…29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWAX37KAqE
or that she would, and something would be different.
That night, I wrote something instead. Not for a book. Just for me.
Dear Mara,
I think you became my routine before I had the courage to admit it.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVsdm6Alkr
I memorized the sound of your laugh in lowercase, the kind that only shows up in real conversation.I know we never said what this is.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjmeDNVrt3
But not knowing doesn’t make it smaller.If you’re hurting, I don’t need details.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnryDvkwvQ
Just tell me you're still here.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1RR9KesIn
That you still want me to listen.—E
I didn’t send that either.
But I left it in her mailbox the next morning.
Handwritten.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxQGpMReEH
No envelope.29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtBiOj8p22
No signature.
Just one song attached to it on a flash drive:29Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvxG0ZS5lM
The one we shared in the rain.
