Pretentiously Simple | Kleo ✔️

22 | so finally the day has come

the day of the party, the pounding in my head did not vanish. it did not dissipate.

not when i tore my unrefined clothes off to pry my elegant black dress on.

not when i frantically curled my blonde hair that was a frizzy ball of chaos for days beforehand.

and not when i put mascara on my blessed thick lashes that smudged underneath my eyes the second i put it on.

my hands trembled rapidly as i avoided eye contact with myself in the mirror of the bathroom. peering down to the sink, i placed a hand on my ever risen ever fallen chest—a fluctuating heart could be felt, beats so unsteady i was culpable to fall into a swoon.

feeling trapped, i softly sighed, the air which i released was unsteady as if it was not my air to breathe.

it was a repetitive cycle, an attempt to catch my breath and calm myself down.

though it was a failed attempt, one that so visibly failed as i collapsed to the floor below me, the closest rock to bottom i have ever brushed.

why, i asked myself, does this keep happening to me?

a question that was not meant to have an answer.

the cool floor i sat on was a usual solace i expected to relieve me from my current ills. it, however, was not, and was proven as such when my headache was coupled with nausea, perspiration, and numbness from every which way.

this was a torment one couldn't ever bear alone, a world war inside of me i was not strong enough to battle. and as i have had enough, there was only one thing i could do.

the phone that was beside me hadn't been used for days, its last call from a man i was forced to like. that was not the man i was going to call.

as my thumb pressed familiar numbers in a familiar pattern, my breathing remained precarious as everything else similarly remained in the very same state as seconds before.

the phone up to my ear, the ringing before his voice was easily the longest wait i ever had to endure. within this period of time, water rolled down my ink stained face, my hair returned to its frizzy mess, and my elegant black dress became wrinkled and disheveled.

yet despite these nuisances that resulted in anticipating the voice i had not heard in forever, his would be the only one to solace me in a time i needed it most.

so what what i thought was forever was in truth just a second; the ringing before the sound of his sweet voice was barely in existence when his lips brought a tune that alleviated my aching heart just slightly.

it was his voice i confided in during a moment that plagued me with the most shocking of news. the sound i was acutely aware of, the deep sound of a voice that belonged to a name i could not even mutter, and a the first words that escaped his very lips were concerned and sincere.

"kate? are you alright?"

i tried, because i wasn't even certain if phoning him was the right thing to do. "i...i"

"kate, talk to me." i heard in between my deep breaths as my need for air was made so absolutely clear. my scorching face cooled itself with water that sent streaks down my forehead, though my legs and chest were so cool they were numb. in a situation where i really needed to speak, i was barely able to, though my necessity for it was nonetheless.