16 For a moment, neither spoke. Just the hush of the car and the invisible weight of things neither of them is saying, memories, missed timing, maybe some unspoken wondering of what it’d be like if they were the ones still trying. The rain, gentle and rhythmic, tapped against the car roof like a...
Just Visiting – 15
15 Sam dropped into the armchair beside Lucy, curling her legs beneath her and tugging the throw across her lap like armour. The sound of the TV murmured in the background, some glossy cooking show she wasn’t really absorbing. “I keep thinking,” she said after a pause, “what if Cameron’s excuse is just… him...
Just Visiting – 14
14 Nightfall. The bedroom was still, soft shadows folding across the walls. Sam lay tangled in her sheets, one leg out, one arm flung over her head, eyes wide open. She’d tried everything, tea, lavender oil, even that playlist Lucy swore by for calming a racing mind. But her mind wasn’t just racing. It...
Just Visiting – 13
13 Sam lay flat on the mattress, staring at the ceiling, arms stretched out like she could anchor herself to the bed before her thoughts swept her under. The room was still, but inside her head, everything stormed. Was she pushing away something real? Craig had borne himself to her, not just with words,...
Just Visiting – 12
12 Sam was halfway through folding laundry when her phone lit up. Cameron calling. She hesitated, then picked up. “Hey,” she said, a little breathless from the bend and stretch of socks and baby onesies. “You’re not going to believe this,” Cameron said. “I got us concert tickets. Two nights from now. Got lucky,...
Just Visiting – 11
11 By 2:00pm, she was with Cameron, listening to his sweat out an explanation. They sat across from each other in the café, late light filtering through wide windows, dappling the wood grain table between them. Cameron’s fingers traced the rim of his coffee cup, nerves just visible beneath the surface. “I married a...
Just Visiting – 10
10 Sam tucked herself into Craig’s side, her head resting against his shoulder, the TV flickering light across both their faces. They weren’t really watching, just soaking in the unspoken comfort of being close. Then her phone buzzed. Lucy. Sam read the message and hesitated. Craig glanced over. “Something up?” “Dinner invite,” she said,...
Just Visiting – 9
9 Sam wanted to scoff, to roll her eyes. You want unconditional trust before you’ve earned it? But she didn’t say that. Instead, she watched him, silently reevaluating everything, the flirty smirks, the way he’d shut down when things got real, the echo of vulnerability he rarely let slip. Maybe he really does mean...
Just Visiting – 8
8 By morning, Sam left bed late to go fetch a cup of tea. Standing over the kettle, she couldn’t stop thinking about Craig with whom she had exchanged dozens of texts over the night and some parts of the morning. Was she always the one smoothing things over? When he mentioned Ashley, her...
Just Visiting – 7
7 Outside, the air was humid with summer, sticky on her skin. She walked past the entrance, phone to ear, pretending to speak, but no one was on the other end. Her steps faltered when she saw them. Ashley slid into the passenger seat of Craig’s car like she’d always belonged there. The door...