Echoes Of The Unseen

EOTU -CERO

Reverie sat in the cafe, stirring her cold coffee absentmindedly, the sound of the spoon clinking against the glass the only noise breaking the silence. Her phone lay face down on the table, notifications still turned on, though she already knew there was nothing from him. Not a single text last night. Not a call.

Her heart felt heavy, weighed down by something she couldn't quite name, but she knew it had been building for a while. Maybe it was the way Aries had slowly pulled away, like a thread unraveling until there was almost nothing left. Or maybe it was the way their conversations had grown shorter, more distant, as if they were becoming strangers again.

She glanced at the door, watching as Aries finally stepped inside. Aries entered a few minutes late, looking distant, as if his mind was elsewhere. He looked the same, but something about his presence felt different, colder. He spotted her and walked over. He sat down across from her without saying a word, avoiding her eyes.

Reverie took a deep breath, the words sitting on her tongue like bitter medicine she was forcing herself to swallow. Reverie broke the silence first, her voice calm but with a weight behind it. "You didn't text me last night," she said, looking at him expectantly.

Aries shrugged, still not meeting her gaze. "I was busy."

"Busy doing what?" Reverie asked, her tone sharpened with frustration. "You couldn't even send a simple text? You've been distant for months, Ari. Something's wrong."

He sighed, finally looking at her but with no warmth in his eyes. "Erie, I don't think this is working,"

Her heart sank but her face remained expressionless. "I figured," she said, voice cold and detached, like she'd already accepted it. "That's why we're here."

Aries raised his eyebrows surprised by her lack of emotion. "What do you mean?"

Reverie took a deep breath, her fingers clenching the cup. "I think we should break up."

Aries leaned back in his chair, blinking. "Break up? Erie, we're just friends. There's nothing to break up."

That was it. No explanation. No apology. Just 'friends'. Reverie stared at him, her mind struggling to catch up with what he had just said. Friends? How could he say that after everything? After all the moments that had made her believe they were something more?

Her face didn't flinch but inside, she felt a sharp twist of pain. "Just friends?" She repeated, almost laughing at the absurdity. "Friends don't treat each other the way you've been treating me."

He looked away avoiding the confrontation. "I've never promised you anything, Erie."

"Then why you act like that?" She snapped, her voice finally breaking through her calm facade. "Why take me out on dates, call me every night, make me feel like I was something more to you? And we even- ugh nevermind."

Aries rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding questions. "It wasn't like that."

Reverie's chest tightened, the final piece of her shattered hearts falling into place. She felt herself on the edge of tears but refused to let them fall. "So , all of this... was nothing to you?"

"Erie-" he started but she cut him off,her voice growing colder.

"It's because of her, isn't it? Your ex." She said softly, though her words were sharp blade. "You never stopped loving her."

Aries tensed, his silence confirming everything she already knew.

"You could've told me," she said, the calm returning to her voice. "Instead of leading me on, making me believe there was something real between us."

Aries stood up abruptly,as if he couldn't bear the conversation any longer. "I don't have anything else to say."

Reverie watched as he turned his back on her, walking away from the table without another word, leaving her there alone. She sat there for a moment, staring at her empty seat across from her, feeling the weight of his departure sink in.

She didn't react. She couldn't. It was like her body had gone numb. As if all the energy she had left had been drained from her in that moment. She watched him get up and leave without looking back, the sound of the door closing behind him echoing in her ears.

Reverie's hand trembling slightly as she watched the world outside the window move on as if nothing happened. She already knew the reason. It wasn't her. It was never her. It was his ex. The one he still held onto, the one who had been his first everything.

Her eyes teared up, but she quickly wiped them away, not wanting to give in to the sadness that was clawing at her chest. She grabbed her things and walked out of the cafe, her head held high even though her heart was breaking into pieces.

Once home, the walls seemed to close in on her. She curled up on her bed, hugging the teddy bear he had given her months ago. The tears came fast, uncontrollable, as she pressed a pillow to her face to muffle the sound. She cried for what felt like hours, all the pent-up hurt and confusion pouring out of her in waves.

When the tears finally stopped, Reverie lay there, staring at the things around her that reminded her of him. The photos, the gifts, the memories that now felt tainted. A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

'Friends?' She scoffed, wiping the last of her tears. What kind of friends treated each other the way he had treated her? Special moments, secret glances, and everything in between... It was never just friendship. If he didn't like her, he should have said it from the beginning, not lead her on, making her believe she had a chance.

She felt like she had been played, tricked into believing in something that wasn't real. But she blamed herself for falling so hard, for wanting to believe in him.

With a deep breath, she grabbed her phone, deleting every picture, every memory they had shared, one by one, until there was nothing left.

She wiped them all away, as if erasing them could erase the pain too. "What kind of friends are we?" She whispered to herself.

She dropped her phone beside her, staring at the ceiling, feeling the sting of betrayal and heartache wrap around her chest. Finally, exhaustion took over and she fell asleep, hoping the morning would dull the pain.

-23MARCH2003