All The Men I Have Danced With Are Dead

Almost the last Chapter

It had been thirty-nine days since that night. It was a clear morning, the type of morning that required you to be outside with the hustle and bustle of the rush hour and the promise of new possibilities. But Aurora laid on the left side of her King bed, backing the sunlight-filled window. Her head was submerged face down to the pillow where she only had dreamless dreams

The seconds between seconds, Aurora counted those as well. It was tormenting. The constant throbbing of the same thought - the very fact that she could no longer reach him. Not that she even tried. He didn't want her and that was enough hurt to not pick up the phone to dial him - not even to ask what: Take a break" truly meant. Whether they were actually in all seriousness taking a limited time away from each other or more realistically, was it a way to escape the true reality which was that they were not to see each other again.

On some days she retains steady emotions,  where life seemed fine without him. When she could breathe again and there was a light at the end of the tunnel. On the other days, like this thirty-ninth day, which had started out fine. She had gone about her day, preparing to go to work. She was just about to leave the house when she got a notification on her phone for a new email - it had been an invitation to the wedding of one of her high school friends. She felt it in her gut - as a wave of emotions filled with memories shared washed over her.

She called in sick and labeled the thirty-ninth day as a bad one.

///////

Peter had felt a slight discomfort after that night but he knew he had done the right thing. He knew Aurora was too attached to him, not to the point of stalking - but he knew. He told himself that the breakup was the best for her. And up until a certain point, he felt relief. He seldom thought about her but was randomly reminded of certain inside jokes they had.  He had entertained other women who weren't memorable. On the thirty-ninth day, since the night they broke up - Peter suddenly felt lonely. It crept up on him and hit his consciousness in a substantial way. And in everything he did that day, he was reminded of Aurora.

It was on the forty-sixth day when Peter called Aurora, she was just about done with the dishes when her phone vibrated a little distance from the sink  - recently she had been ignoring calls, the red bubble above the phone icon on her iPhone indicating just this. But this time when she looked over to her phone buzzing against the brown tiling - she nearly threw the dish in her hand across the room. She snatched the phone up from the counter - not minding how the wetness in her hand transferred to the unprotected device.

Hello," She said after her unreliable fingers hit the accept button. Her voice was panting and disconnected.

Hi,' Peter replied. His voice -  a model of calm.

Wow, it is nice to hear from you, ''she replied.

Yeah.. you too.

A pause and all that was heard was breathing.

"Look, we need to talk.. Can we meet up? Can I come over right now?

She would have screamed the word YES if she had not recovered some semblance of sensibility.

She simply said " yes" her voice soaked in false dignity and nonchalance.

Forty-five minutes after - he arrived at her door. Aurora had changed into leggings that did wonders to her behind and a shirt that made her top half more slender than it actually was. She had also applied concealer, giving her eyes a kind of spark that imitated confidence.  She stepped into a touch of her favorite body spray and applied coconut oil to her hair.

When he entered her apartment, the air was familiar and tense. He occupied the space like he didn't before Aurora had forgotten how her hands usually sat and held them in an awkward straight line beside her.