Distance
1223 Words
Morning crept in softly, pale light slipping through the curtains.
Ella woke before her alarm, the apartment still and unusually heavy. For a moment, she forgot why her chest felt tight.
Then she remembered.
Kate’s voice.
The hesitation.
The careful warning.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand.
Thompson: Hope you slept okay.
Ella stared at the screen longer than necessary. Her thumb hovered over the keyboard. She wanted to say thank you for the flowers, thank you for staying, thank you for being gentle when I didn’t ask you to be.
Instead, she typed:
Yeah. I did.
She sent it.
The message felt wrong the second it left her phone.
At work, Thompson noticed immediately.
Ella didn’t look for him the way she usually did. When their paths crossed, her smile was polite—careful. She spoke less. Listened more. Every laugh felt restrained, like she was afraid of giving too much away.
Thompson watched her from a distance, confusion knitting itself quietly into his expression.
He didn’t ask.
But something in him shifted.
That evening, Kate sat across from Ella, pretending to scroll through her phone.
“You seem distracted,” she said casually.
“I’m fine,” Ella replied.
Kate hummed. “You’ve just been quieter since yesterday.”
Ella hesitated. “Do you really think… he’s not a good person?”
Kate didn’t answer right away. She set her phone down slowly.
“That’s the thing,” she said. “People like him never are. Not at first.”
Ella swallowed.
“He’s kind to you because you’re vulnerable,” Kate continued gently. “And I hate that someone might take advantage of that.”
The word vulnerable stung.
Ella nodded, though something about it didn’t sit right.
Later that night, Thompson knocked on Ella’s door.
She opened it, surprised.
“I won’t stay long,” he said quietly. “I just wanted to check on you.”
Kate lingered in the background, watching.
“I’m okay,” Ella replied, her voice steady—but distant.
Thompson studied her face. “You sure?”
She nodded again.
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, he exhaled. “I get the feeling you don’t really want me around right now.”
Ella’s heart thudded.
“That’s not—” she began, then stopped herself.
Thompson smiled faintly. “It’s alright. I don’t want to make things harder for you.”
He stepped back.
“If you ever need me,” he added softly, “you know where to find me.”
The door closed behind him.
Ella stood there, staring at the wood long after his footsteps faded.
Behind her, Kate relaxed—just a little.
That night, Ella lay awake, the ringing in her ears louder than before.
But beneath it was something worse.
Regret.
And somewhere down the hall, in another apartment, Thompson sat alone—wondering when the ground beneath him had started to shift.
The second day, Thompson went for a drive to clear his head …
Ella was coming back from a restaurant
The street was unusually quiet.
Ella spotted him before she realized she was looking for him.
Thompson stood near the curb, jacket tossed over his arm, one hand steadying an old woman as she carefully stepped down from the sidewalk. He listened to her with patience, nodding, adjusting his pace to hers as though time bent easily around him. When she struggled with her bag, he lifted it without a word. When she smiled, he smiled back—small and sincere.
Ella stopped walking.
She watched him guide the woman safely across the road, wait until she was settled, then wave as she shuffled away.
Her chest tightened.
That’s not how men who use people behave, a quiet voice whispered.
And yet—Kate’s words pressed in just as fast.
That’s how it starts.
Ella exhaled shakily, caught between two truths that refused to coexist.
Thompson turned.
Their eyes met.
Confusion flickered across his face, then concern. He crossed the street toward her.
“You okay?” he asked. “You’ve been acting… distant.”
She hesitated. Took a step back.
“I’m fine.”
He didn’t buy it.
“Do you want to sit?” he asked gently, gesturing toward his car. “Just for a minute.”
She nodded before she could overthink it.
Inside the car, silence settled—but it wasn’t empty. It was full of unsaid things.
Ella clasped her hands together in her lap. Her knee bounced. She stared at the dashboard like it might save her.
Thompson waited.
Finally, she spoke. “I… I don’t trust you.”
The words fell out clumsily, fragile as glass.
He turned fully toward her, stunned. “What?”
She swallowed. “I mean— I don’t know if I do. Or maybe I do. I don’t know.” Her words tangled, tripping over each other. “You’re kind and you’re always there and maybe I just imagined things because I’m not good at reading people and—”
She inhaled sharply. “I know you like me.”
The car went very still.
Thompson blinked. Once. Twice.
“What?” he said again—quieter this time.
Color crept up his neck. His fingers tightened slightly around the steering wheel.
Ella’s voice rushed on, faster now. “But I’m probably wrong. I must be. Because you can’t like someone like me and you’re— you’re confident and charming and maybe you’re just nice to everyone and I took it the wrong way and maybe you’re just a player and—”
“Ella.”
She didn’t stop.
“And Kate said—”
That did it.
Thompson reached out and gently closed his hand around hers.
Not tight.
Not possessive.
Just there.
Her words died instantly.
“Where are you getting these ideas from?” he asked softly. “Why would I use you? Why would I ever play with your feelings?”
His thumb brushed against her knuckles without thinking.
She looked at him then—really looked. His eyes were steady. Earnest. Nervous, even.
“I like you,” he said quietly. “I’ve liked you for a while. I just… noticed you didn’t feel the same. So I thought maybe I should try harder. That’s all.”
Her breath hitched.
“No one has ever—” she began, emotion rising too fast—
Her phone rang.
The sound shattered the moment.
Jake’s name lit up the screen.
She answered on instinct.
“Ella, I need you at work. Now,” Jake said. “It’s urgent.”
Her heart sank.
“I have to go,” she whispered, already opening the door.
Thompson reached for his keys. “I’ll drive you.”
“No,” she said quickly. Too quickly. “I—I’ll take a ride. We’ll talk later. I promise.”
Her hands were shaking. Her heart wouldn’t slow.
She stepped out of the car, barely trusting her legs.
As the door closed, Thompson watched her walk away—confession still hanging between them, unfinished.
Ella pressed her palm to her chest as she hailed a ride.
Kate’s voice echoed faintly in her mind.
But now… it didn’t sound as certain.
And for the first time, doubt wasn’t aimed at Thompson.
It was aimed at Kate.
- Writer
