"Something about you made me feel a little more alive and far less lost"
PRESENT DAY-
MARK unlocks the door to his apartment. He drops his key on the kitchen counter, waltz to his bed and plops down on it.
He was drained from all the talking he had been doing.
He sits up take his clothes off when he hears the voice he knows all too well.
"So, how was it?" She asks.
He didn't have to turn to know she was sitting with her back to him on the other side of the bed.
After all, she was only a figment of his imagination. That's what he tells himself. His brain had somehow found way to warp her image into his reality. It was a coping mechanism, he believed. This much time has passed and he refuses to let her go.
"It went okay." He drops his jacket on the ground.
"Progress?"
"Progress."
He stands up, grabs his towel and begins to head for the shower when she speaks again.
"You really should get your jacket off the ground and into the hamper. You've been wearing it for three days now and it's starting to stink." She says, "And while you're at it, maybe, I don't know, do your laundry." She rolls her eyes.
He pauses to look at his jacket on the ground and then his overflowing hamper of dirty clothes.
"It's giving the room a certain smell and it's really not cute."
He pouts as he finally turns to her, on cue she turns to look at him too. She is still as breath-taking as ever. She gives him a lopsided smile then she cocks her head to the side to pout, playfully mocking his.
"Nah." He says as he turns on his heels and heads to the shower. He hears her laugh echo as he exits the room.
.
There was a knock on the door. Mark stands up from the couch to answer it.
"I've been blasting your phone with calls and messages." Amanda says as he opens the door. "Why didn't you pick up dude?"
"Oh damn, my bad. My phone has been on DND all day." He says as he let out a light chuckle.
"Well, get it off DND then. People actually do care about you enough to want to reach you, you know." She says as she plops down on the couch. "Ouuu Pizza." She says, distracted easily as she takes one slice of the large pepperoni pizza Mark was mindlessly downing before she came in.
"Yeah, oh well." He says as he sits beside her on the couch. "I just needed some time to myself for a while."
"You've been having too much of that these days M." She says with her mouth full.
"As the case may be, it's not enough."
"It's still too much." She says, there is a hint of concern in her voice.
Mark sighs and leans back on the chair. "It's my way of trying to adapt to this new reality."
"You've been 'trying to adapt to this new reality' for months now." She starts, "But, Beth's been gone for two years. This is not a new reality anymore. It's just reality."
"I'm trying my best here."
"And I know you are, trust me, we all know. We can see it. But maybe it's time to stop trying alone."
Mark sighs again. He's gone through this conversation umpteen times. He's shut everyone down every time. Everyone except Amanda. He only has enough tolerance for her.
