Shards of Moonlight || A Short-story Collection

His Hidden Secrets

"If he never indicates that you're his one and only, you cannot count on his loyalty."

I should have listened to my gut feeling.

To be fair, neither he nor I knew she would turn up that day when we were sitting in a small coffee shop in lower downtown. His Ex. Wait. Let me correct myself: his girlfriend. At least she claimed that. Or rather screamed at the top of her lungs how he could meet other girls behind her back. In the middle of the comfortable hustle and bustle of the cozy cafe, she accused him of cheating.

What did I feel right then and there? Disappointment? Shame? Anger? No, none of the above: nothing. I felt numb and left.

I trusted him.

Outside I clenched my fists to stop myself from kicking the nearby cloudy-gray trash can overflowing with food-remains and plastic containers. Nothing good would come out of that, I had to recall several times to stop the anger from overtaking me. People would only stare as if I was a lunatic and I would have to pick up old plastic cups of dried in coffee and god-knows how disgusting half-rotten banana peels. Maybe I was. I sure felt like laughing as if I lost my mind. Maybe I left it at the cash register in a certain coffee shop. Laughing at this god-damn mess I got myself in and the mess I turned out to be. Because of him. That goddamn asshat. I should have never started to let him in and get my feelings involved.

I turned my face skywards and closed my eyes, forcing deep, shaky breaths in and out. If that ass just stepped out, I would hit him so hard...I felt a hand touch my shoulder as if it was made out of porcelain. "What?", I hissed being confronted with his sorry self. Wish granted, yet I felt gutted. Unable to utter a word, not even lift my hand for a well-deserved punch. No, I could not deal with him right now. If only he would leave...

"Can we talk?", he asked, his eyes holding my gaze. I huffed. "What is there to talk about?", while taking off in a quick pace. Not exactly running away, my pride would never admit that. Still, my mind went into conflict avoidant mode, so I scurried off.

I sprinted over deserted parking lots in these late evening hours on a workday and small greenery on the sides of busy roads. I tried to lose him. I tried as best as I could. After minutes that felt like hours, I stopped to catch my breath. My feet itched in my casual sneakers, the worst choice for any run. Still, as I looked up, the pretend-to-be-my-boyfriend came to a halt next to me.

His jacket was sweat-stained and he looked as if he had visited a solarium - in a suit. The absurdity nearly made me laugh again, yet I contained myself. Appropriate or not, he lead me on.

I leaned against the nearby wall of a house in a dimly lit alley, having no clue where we actually were, while he repeated his question. I could not help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. After all, he had followed me this far - in a goddamn suit. If I did not know him this well, I would probably run just from how creepy that thought sounded. Either, he cared about me or he lost his sanity. Both valid options. Nah, I bet on the last one.

"Talk," I said, my tone cold as ice and calm like a lioness about to strike down her pray, "and you better make it worth my while." He swallowed hard, raking a shaking hand through his jet-black hair, glistening underneath the flickering street light due to the sticky sweat.

"Listen, this was all a miss-", he started off, yet I cut him off.

"Missunderstanding? Didn't look like one", I countered feistily. If he thought that lame excuses would fix the mess he created then he was dead wrong. I could not trust his words anymore. To me, nothing distinguished him from a liar. He would have to show off actions to prove his -

"Watch out!", he screamed in terror before wincing in pain. He pulled me behind a dumpster, my nose pressing against his blood drenched suit, pierced by a knife.

What the hell just happened??