Ring

Ring

He hummed merrily as he returned home from work. He walked inside, closing the door behind him. Hanging up his coat and taking off his shoes, he looked down the hallway. The all-too-familiar scent of freshly laundered clothing, mixed with the smell of food made him smile. The house was dark, but he usually got home at around 11 at night these days. The new promotion came with its benefits and consequences. All of the benefits would be revealed tonight, to his lovely girlfriend.

They had been in a serious relationship for over 5 years now. Even though he hadn’t spent that much time with her in the past few months, all of it would be worth it. He had worked this hard for her. For them. He walked carefully to the kitchen, placing his mobile phone on the table and putting the rest of his stuff down, keeping only what he needed. His eyes lit up as he saw dinner, wrapped up lovingly for him. But before he ate, he had something much more important to do, and that would require waking his beloved up.

As he was leaving the kitchen, a light blinked from his mobile phone and it peaked his curiosity, as he had checked for messages before he left work. Worried that it was a message from one of his co-workers, or even his boss, he walked back into the kitchen. He turned on his phone to reveal that he had a voicemail, and he took a seat before pressing play.

“Hello, Luke.” He grinned widely at the sound of his girlfriend’s voice. “I couldn’t think of any other way to say this. I… I can’t take it anymore.” His happiness soon drained into confusion as he continued to process her words. “You don’t tell me anything anymore, and it feels like we’ve drifted apart. You’ve been coming home late, you’ve been disappearing to God knows where on the weekends, and now, you’ve even forgotten our anniversary.” His mind screamed at him to go to her quickly, to explain to her what the truth was and to fix everything. He got up from his chair, taking the phone with him as he made his way to their bedroom, his stomach roiling in unease as he continued listening.

“I’m done waiting. Maybe in the past few months, you’ve been busy working, but you’ve never been able to make any time for me. For us. Didn’t… we use to mean something? When did that change? Why… do I feel so lonely?” The sadness in her voice ripped at his heart, making him speed up his pace. “I wanted you to be home more. I wanted you… to love me more. I wish we could’ve… done so much more together.” He slammed open the door, looking around for her familiar form in the blankets. But the room seemed as though it was frozen in time, the sheets folded immaculately, the room so organized it was as if no one had lived here but him. He dropped to his knees, placing the phone down on the bed.

“I’ve already packed my things. I’ve run out of patience, Luke. You can keep the apartment, and the car. I… I’m sorry. Goodbye.” As the phone beeped to signal that the recording had ended, a small box fell out of his fingers, clattering to the ground. A ring with a beautiful diamond rolled away, twinkling as brightly as the hope he had felt a few moments ago. He stared at the phone for a minute or two, his mind still processing what had happened. He felt numb as he spoke out to no one in particular.

“Did you leave…? You didn’t leave, did you?” His voice held a childlike tone, as his eyes grew wide, the dark hopelessness of his mind reflected in them. “I’m so, so sorry. What can I do to make it better? Just tell me, we can work it out… I swear.” He reached out for the phone and clutched it tightly in his hand, tears dripping from his eyes as he closed it and whipped it at the nearby dresser mirror. The mirror broke at the impact, the shards of the mirror falling to the ground, like he did. He fell onto his knees, before he hunched forward, and collapsed completely. “My head… my head is full of you… but my arms are empty. Why is that?” His voice barely above a whisper.

Amidst the shards of the broken mirror was the ring, shining and beautiful, filled with the promise of eternal love. That promise mocked him now, he thought bitterly, as he reached out for it nevertheless, the shards that sliced him barely making him flinch. After retrieving it, he rolled so that he laid on his back, one arm outstretched in the air, the ring in his grasp. The tears flowed silently down the sides of his face as he looked at the precious ring, his mind exploding from the memories that resurfaced.