Vestiges Of You.

four.

There is a bit of you in his muddy teacup.

'Regrets,' you mumble over the counter. Aventurine stares as you fiddle with your teaspoon—like lifting the world's edge, like unravelling its threads, apathetically, perfunctorily. His teacup simply lies before him, long cold, and muddy-looking. 'I have many... so do you.'

A train passes over the railings nearby, quick against the steel, unlike your stagnant manoeuvres, followed by a mysterious silence of what hangs in the atmosphere, and remains unspoken. 'are you not exhausted of lying?'

'I never lied to you about a single thing,' he replies.

'But you don't trust me, with anything, at all— regardless of who is in your life, you still seem to have the same disgusting thoughts about yourself; it never stops, it never goes away. I wish I could...' You place the teaspoon down, the tone of your voice gradually creaking. 'Take away your blues. I have.. many selfless wishes for you. I wish you would take care of yourself, I wish you would cherish every instant of this ephemeral lifetime, I wish you would relinquish the past; that was then, this is now. Yet you've always been a bitter man, and it makes me bitter, too. I hope you will understand, that is all I have to say...'

Reality begins to melt away, in the darkness, akin to a candle's wax, in the heat of a flame. Everything feels as if it occurred a long time ago, in a far-off world, out of reach. Or, is it occurring in the future, in an alternative far-off world?

( have you seen my lover? The one that owned the beach, April's beauty, the black leather heels I purchased, my muddy teacup, the subway, my dreams, my heart? )

There is a bit of you in all he is.