Chapter 7
419 Words
The morning after New Year wasn’t loud.
No celebration.
No sudden clarity.
Just… quiet.
Elena opened her eyes and for a moment didn’t know what day it was.
The light in the room was soft, muted, as if even it was still recovering.
Max was sleeping beside her, curled under the blanket. Adam was in the other room.
Everything was in place.
And yet…
something was different.
She closed her eyes.
And the moment came back.
Fireworks.
His hands on her face.
The kiss.
This time, she hadn’t pulled away.
This time…
she wanted it.
She sat up, running her hands over her face as if that could clear her thoughts.
It didn’t help.
In the kitchen, she poured herself water.
The silence wrapped around her.
And with it came the question she had been avoiding.
What now?
She didn’t answer.
She couldn’t.
The days slowly returned to something like normal.
The kids were still on holiday.
The apartment was alive.
But Elena moved more carefully.
As if every thought mattered.
Peter didn’t reach out.
Neither did she.
It wasn’t a decision.
Just a shared silence.
Until she saw him again.
From the window.
The van.
Her heart reacted before her mind did.
She went outside.
Slower this time.
Peter was writing something down. When he looked up and saw her, he stopped.
“Good afternoon,” she said.
Again.
He smiled.
“That again?” he teased softly. “Hey.”
Silence.
Not uncomfortable.
But full.
“How are you?” she asked.
Still formal.
“I’m good,” he said. “And you?”
A step back.
“The kids are home?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
Silence again.
“I…” she started.
Stopped.
“Yesterday…”
She didn’t finish.
Peter shook his head gently.
“We don’t have to.”
Those words hit her harder than she expected.
Relief.
And something else.
They looked at each other.
Longer.
Something was there.
Something that couldn’t be undone.
“I should go,” he said.
She nodded.
He walked away.
Didn’t look back.
Elena stayed there.
And realized something.
She wasn’t running from it.
She was just…
letting it be.
That evening, she sat by the window.
The kids were playing in the other room.
The apartment was full of sound.
But she was in silence.
She looked at her hands.
At the place where he had touched her.
And smiled softly.
Not because she had answers.
But because…
she didn’t need them yet.
- Writer
