Chapter Six: No one in the mirror
492 Words
Liam’s hands gripped the steering wheel tighter than they needed to.
The city blurred past in streaks of grey and gold, but his eyes weren’t on the road. They kept flicking to the rearview mirror, like his heart had sent out a silent plea he didn’t want to admit.
Maya. Chase me. Come after me. Please...
But the sidewalk behind him stayed empty.
No running footsteps. No voice calling his name. Just traffic and time, moving on without him.
Liam exhaled slowly, the ache in his chest thick and dull. He shouldn’t be surprised. They’d known each other for one night — one beautiful, perfect night. A night where everything had felt possible.
But maybe it was only real to him.
The way she’d looked at the man — that man, with the expensive car and perfect posture — it was different. Sharper. Charged.
Maybe I was just the warm-up act, Liam thought bitterly. The easy one. The safe one.
His eyes flicked to the passenger seat.
The scarf still lay there, folded neatly like a gift he hadn’t earned.
He pulled into his quiet street, parked without remembering how he got there, and sat in the silence. The engine ticked as it cooled. A dog barked in the distance. Somewhere down the block, a wind chime rang softly.
Liam didn’t move.
He just stared into the mirror, one last time, long after there was no one left to look for.
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Across town, Maya walked with her arms crossed tight against her chest. Not because of the cold, but because something inside her had come loose.
Liam saw me.
He was there, and I let him leave.
Why didn’t I run after him?
She knew what the right thing was — she should’ve chased him down, explained, reassured. Told him the truth: that she’d just happened to run into Dante. That she didn’t even want to stay. That she wanted him — the boy who saw her when no one else had.
But she hadn’t moved.
And that silence… that single moment of hesitation… might’ve said more than anything else could.
She reached her apartment, closed the door behind her, and sank onto the couch. Her fingers ran through her hair, tugging gently at the roots like she could loosen the mess in her mind.
Why did Dante make her freeze like that?
Why did his voice pull her back when her heart was already turning away?
And most terrifying of all:
Why was the man she barely knew the one she couldn’t stop thinking about — even when it cost her something good?
She lay back, staring at the ceiling.
No messages from Liam.
No scarf.
No more jazz cafés or quiet bookstore corners.
Just silence.
Maya didn’t know it, but in another part of the city, Liam sat with the same stillness — two hearts reaching for each other across a gap they didn’t know how to cross.
Yet
- Writer
