Two Strangers | Wilbur Soot ✔️

Two Strangers

JULES

Another movie that he let her chose and ended up getting upset about. No horror, no romance, no sci-fi, no documentary, no anything was to his taste. At least, that's what he made it seem like. Almost like he put her in this position just to have a reason to yell at her. "The popcorn isn't sweet enough. Did you even put sugar on it?! I bet you forgot again."
Luke spat the words in pure disgust. Nothing was ever good enough for him. Not anymore. Not even his own girlfriend.

"Why don't you make it yourself then?" Jules muddered under her breath, barely any sounds passing her lips. She got up with the metal bowl in her hands and went into to kitchen. Grabbing the sugar pack out of the cabinet, she heard the movie in the living room switch to a football game. Annoyed, she put three more spoons of sugar over the popcorn and popped the pack back to its original place.

Sometimes she told herself, that she'd get used to it. Eventually. Luke was just stressed from work. He wasn't like that. Sometimes he was nice, gave her a quick peck on the cheeks, said something that sounded like a compliment about her boobs, sometimes he'd ask her about his day. Sometimes, he'd even listen to what she said. Like when they first met. "He's so charming. A gentleman!" She had told her best friend Beck. He never called her pretty anymore. Never told her, that her light brown hair shone golden in the sun anymore. Never told her, that looking into her grey-ish blue eyes was like traveling into another world anymore. He had loved her with all his heart once. It was hard to tell when that stopped. When she only became an unnecessary detail of his every day life.

No, she didn't think that anymore, but she'd spent years with him. What was it? 5 years? Felt like an eternity. She couldn't imagine what it would be like without him. She didnt dare to. It was a scary thought. Every time it crawled to the front of her mind, she pushed it as far back as she could. It always came back. As time went on, it became more and more frequent.

"Here. Hope that's better." Jules passed the bowl to her boyfriend who didn't even raise his gaze. With much effort, her words sounded soft. There was no point in waiting for a response. No thanking her. No warm smile. Nada.

Just as she sat back down, snuggling up to him, he spoke again. "What's with the beer?! You should know by now I always want beer when the games are running."
She looked at him in shock. Ungrateful pig. Again lifting herself up from the couch, she left the living room. This time she wasn't aiming for the kitchen fridge. She was going for the hallway. A dim light helped her find what she was looking for. A fly was flying around it. "You must have it so easy little guy, all you do is have to follow the big lights. You have no other worries." She thought while putting on her jacket. With a quick hand movement, the keys were in her pocket and she was out the door.

Fresh cold air with a salty breeze hit her face. It would take him a while till he'd notice her absense. Usually holding her head out of the kitchen window for a breath of sanity would do, but tonight her nerves were stretched beyond their limits.
Her flat that he had intruded purposefully years ago was now a place of discomfort.
Not far from home was the beach. Occasionally she'd visit it in the day time after work, when she had the time to, but it's been a bit since that was the case.

She could already hear the waves crashing and shortly afterwards she was sitting on the end of the jetty. She had cuffed up the ends of her trousers and let her feet dangle in the water.
Closing her eyes, she imagined that she was in another world in which things had gone differently. In which she was loved and appreciated.

"Is this still free?" A deep tired voice asked next to her. In the darkness of the warm summer night, she could only make out a tall vivid silhouette with curly dark hair. With one hand he pointed at the space on her right as if it was an empty chair. He casted a large shadow over her that immediately made her shiver. Just for the sake of getting out of it, she patted the spot as to invite him to sit down next to her.