One Last Look

9

Stress.
Stress from her job, stress from her social life, stress from Ben, from working to keep doing things together despite how little time they had free.
The design studio had Ben working on new edits every week, it was making a impact on his demeanor. His positive attitude was giving way to tired indifference. His eyes were worn out from squinting at the computer screen late into the nights. His cheery smile showed itself less often. El would be more worried about him, if she didn't have enough on her mind already. Her editor was impressed by her work and had given her a huge project to work on. Involving lots of research and interviews and writing and rewriting and the list went on and on.
She rubbed her forehead.
Jerking back to the present, she turned back to her computer screen. She racked her brain for what to write next.
Nothing.
She couldn't think of a single sentence.
Not even a word, let alone the 6 pages she still needed to fill.
Sighing in frustration, she closed her laptop and looked around.
Her apartment was in it's usual state. Clothes and dishes strewn all over the table and couch and floor.
She felt so frustrated.
She had no motivation to clean or write. Her very soul felt weary.
Then something clicked in her head.
She picked up her phone and dialed up Ben's number.
She waited as it rang once....twice....three times.
No answer.
Her eyebrows furrowed.
She dialed again.
It rang...once....twice....three times.
A robotic voice said
*you have reached*
"Ben Parker." Spoke a familiar voice.
*please leave a message after the tone*
BEEEEERP
Trying to hide her disappointment, she said,
"Hey Ben, it's me. I was just calling to see if you'd come by later, but it seems like you're pretty busy..." her voice trailed off.
"...um, just give me a call when you can I guess. Love you, bye."
She hung up.
Close to tears, she wrapped a blanket around herself and huddled on the couch. Why was this affecting her so badly? It was just a missed phone call. No big deal.
And yet her tears flowed in spite of her reasoning.