Inevitable rain

10

It had been two months since he had visited her house that day.
She had cried quietly that day as he held her in his arms. She hadn't refused him, but her tears had wet his chest. He noticed, but pretended not to know, that she was biting her lip hard to keep from screaming.
He left while she was tired and asleep. They haven't contacted each other since then.

He looked at his smartphone several times, checking the notifications that didn't ring and then sighed. There was no way he was going to hear from her.

The first time he had heard her name in a long time was on the set of a commercial shoot. As he was standing by for the next shoot, the chatter of the crew was he frowned as he happened to overhear.

'...That's unusual.'

'She's human, so that's bound to happen.'

'She's going to take some time off.
She's got a big shoot coming up next year, so this might be a good time to do it.'

I hear it's been a pretty intense schedule. I hope it's not a serious illness.

"She's taking an extended leave of absence because she's sick?"

He wanted to hear more about the story, but it would be suspicious to those around him that his supposed "close friend" didn't know what was going on.

He decided to casually ask his manager.

'I heard she's taking a break from her health, do you know?'

'Oh, that's still off the record, apparently, but it's true. It's big news and rumors are starting to spread in the industry. I don't think the press has caught it yet.'

He finished filming and went back to his office to get to work on his paperwork. He picked up a stack of papers on his desk, but the contents never entered his mind. He threw the papers on the desk and put his head in his hands. He asked himself.

"Oh my God.
Why hasn't she contacted him?"

"Of course she hasn't. We don't contact people we've broken up with."

"But aren't we back to being "close friends"? She said so herself."

"Who had used those words of hers? She was crying, though. There was no way she was going to contact someone like that."

"There was no way she was ever going to take a long break. That hard-working girlfriend of hers? What's the big deal?
And what are you going to do about it?"

Still, he couldn't help but take some action.

"It's been a long time. I heard you were not feeling well, are you okay? Get some rest."

He read that short sentence over and over again. He wondered if it was too strangerly, but it seemed appropriate given their current distance. He sent the message, put his smartphone on his desk and waited for a response. He might not get a response. But she was a disciplined woman and he wouldn't ignore her, he believed. He hoped that the thin, thin thread that bound them together wouldn't break.

He resumed his paperwork while he waited for the message to be answered, but it was slow going. He glanced at his smartphone with a glance, then returned his attention to the paperwork again.The process was repetitive.

The time he waited was only about two hours. But it seemed like a lot longer than that to him. He quickly picked up his smartphone when the notification alarm finally went off.

"Thank you for worrying about me. I'm fine."

It was a short message.
She couldn't be okay.
Her okay was always a strength.