Eli’s POV
I told myself it was fine.
Maybe she was tired.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLu0CFODhA
Maybe she’d forgotten.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkuDENclu3
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGShjJpGF2
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…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMd7vxrlVm
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTc9w2hOXj0
Because I wasn’t sure what scared me more—27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4ynD99bLN
that she wouldn’t reply…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiP0KIUbtxM
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkZdUxkj9a
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3bsuiLgvq
But not knowing doesn’t make it smaller.If you’re hurting, I don’t need details.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJAahqLC2w
Just tell me you're still here.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjZslTzGvC
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡud06CPG0tl
No envelope.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6JsSP60Pn
No signature.
Just one song attached to it on a flash drive:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9nKuagphi
The one we shared in the rain.
