Online Now

He stared at his phone and sighed. She was online again, and it took every ounce of willpower he had not to message her. He placed the phone down.

They met maybe a couple of months ago, after a friend introduced them to each other with a smirk and an “I think you two will suit each other very well” before quickly dodging out of the room. It turned out that he was right, and between their snark, love of books, and shared interest in urban photography, they became fast friends and, eventually, lovers.

He leaned back as he remembered how good they used to have it: the nightly voice calls, the fun little dates at hole-in-the-wall restaurants, the passionate sex. Yeah, they had a great thing going, but, as usual, he just had to ruin it somehow.

He picked up his phone and stared at his friends list again. She was still online. He could probably still message her, using some pretense about how he was missing a shirt or maybe his favorite book. He shook his head. No, he couldn’t use those reasons, not again, not after nearly 2 months of not talking to her since the breakup.

He continued staring at his screen for a while, when a notification popped up. The preview read:

“Hey honey, I’ll be home late tonight, but let’s celebrate your recent promotion, okay? Lov…”

He stopped and stared at his current girlfriend’s message, feeling a mix of guilt and relief. He shrugged and was about to respond when he saw that she went offline, without even probably noticing that he was around. He smiled bitterly and started typing out a reply.

–

Image source: deviantart.com/gdbee/art/Respite-658000810
First written April 30, 2018.
#204