It's difficult to find the way everything fits into place once it's broken, even if a surgeon gives you a pretty significant first push. Alexia's recovery is progressing with hope. Her knee is responding well to rehabilitation, but she doesn't feel...
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"How did you know you liked a girl?"
Irene looked at me in silence, blinking a couple of times trying to gather her thoughts. The other attendees of our small gathering remained still, expectant about how the situation would unfold.
"Well, precisely when I started asking questions like that," she crossed her arms, and I nodded silently. No one else said anything. "Are you asking about someone specific?"
"I don't know. I think I'm a little confused. A few days ago, I had a weird night because I was drunk, and I've been feeling strange since then," I confessed calmly.
Irene raised her eyebrows.
"Is it Alexia?" I nodded with embarrassment.
"Well, who wouldn't be a little attracted to Alexia Putellas?" Celia rhetorically asked.
Miguel scoffed, and Raquel agreed with him.
"I guess straight women," he replied.
"Liar!" Celia exclaimed, defending her position.
Irene slid her butt across the carpet, getting closer to me, and placed her hand on my arm.
"Maybe it's something you should talk to Marc about," she advised me.
"Why? Nothing happened. Besides, I'm not even sure."
"I don't know," Raquel began speaking. "Maybe Irene is right. You two haven't been doing well lately. Could this have something to do with it?"
I vehemently denied it.
"This has been going on before. We've been having arguments frequently for months," I paused, looking around. "Like the one this week."
"It must be exhausting to be like that all the time," Miguel supported me.
"Yes, it's something that needs to change, but in this particular argument, he's right. I haven't been involved, and if he's been seeing this for a while, it's normal that he feels frustrated and irritable."
"You understand him too much," Irene rolled her eyes.
"You hate him too much."
"He's asking for it," Irene shrugged, making us laugh half-heartedly, almost with embarrassment.
I looked at them with a solemn expression, and my friends returned it with a forced smile.
"It doesn't look good, does it?"
"No, honey," Celia replied honestly.
"You're going to have to put much more effort if you want to continue the relationship. Although, clearly, you should question if you want to, given that the problem is that you're not sufficiently invested in its progress."
Raquel nodded in agreement with Miguel's words.
"We'll be here to help you with whatever decision you make, you know that," the brunette added.
I smiled at all of them and took my phone in my hands to send a message to Marc. I was pretty sure of what I wanted. I couldn't picture myself without him.
I feel like I haven't been giving everything I should, and I want to fix it. Can we meet tomorrow ❤️?
I had invited Marc over to my place and requested a day off from work. It was time to address all the things we had been dragging for months.
I had to focus on what I had been working so hard for in my life. That perfect future with Marc, the new house, the marriage. I had to stop being foolish and take the leap, to overcome the fear that was holding me back. Marc didn't deserve that. I had to be what he deserved after all this years.
When I opened the door, my heart sank. I smiled widely upon seeing him standing there, offering me another chance. I hugged him tightly and stayed in his arms for several seconds.
"How are you?" I asked. He looked tense, and it didn't surprise me. I had taken this seriously for once. "You seem off."
"I'm fine," he replied simply.
I invited him in. I served Marc his favorite drink and sat across from him in the living room. Marc nervously rubbed his hands and then grabbed the glass from the table to moisten his probably dry mouth.
"I want to apologize," I began speaking. Marc nodded, as if he had been expecting it. "I haven't been giving what I should in this relationship. It's time for progress, to continue building what we used to love fantasizing about in the future. Fear has prevented me from moving forward, but that's over."
I smiled sincerely at Marc, but he remained still. The silence became deafening, and my legs started to move nervously, expecting a response different from his silence. A hug, a kiss, an unrestrained lovemaking session on this very couch because we can't contain our joy and want to celebrate. Instead, his eyes stared at mine coldly, and his lips pressed tightly together.
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Hello! A very short chapter, I know. I will upload another one tomorrow ;)
In the next chapter we'll dive straight into their encounter (we needed context).
