Eli’s POV
I told myself it was fine.
Maybe she was tired.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0jFa1iCqB
Maybe she’d forgotten.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmViZNeRBW
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlHcb5QM4C
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…7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKMcK5x7hE
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdv6ip6svHt
Because I wasn’t sure what scared me more—7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBrYYVb4o5
that she wouldn’t reply…7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcK5FBnIG0z
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVvogpdlFA
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8V3JKEmzPa
But not knowing doesn’t make it smaller.If you’re hurting, I don’t need details.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSbtla8150
Just tell me you're still here.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6wVF1tDMk
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltylEAKML1
No envelope.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NMwPU8rEM
No signature.
Just one song attached to it on a flash drive:7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVYxqO9uNd
The one we shared in the rain.
