HE KNEW WITHOUT ASKING
241 Words
Roger sat down again, casually, but his eyes were still locked on Ella. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Just tired.”
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You’ve been tired a lot lately.”
Ella didn’t respond. Her fingers traced the edge of the coffee table, where the bouquet of lilies sat untouched.
Roger tilted his head. “You and Stanley… you used to be close.”
“We were,” she said quietly.
“Still are?”
Ella hesitated. “Not like that.”
Roger didn’t press. He stood up, walked to the window, and stared out at the fading storm. “You know, I used to worry about him. About how he looked at you.”
Ella’s breath caught.
“But I told myself I was being paranoid,” Roger continued. “That you loved me. That he was just… Stanley.”
She swallowed hard. “I do love you.”
Roger turned to face her. “Do you still?”
The question hung in the air like leftover thunder.
Ella didn’t answer. Not because she didn’t know—but because she did.
Roger nodded slowly, like he’d just confirmed something he’d been afraid to admit. “I’ll go. Let you rest.”
He kissed her forehead, soft and distant, and walked out without another word.
Ella sat alone, the lilies still untouched, the storm finally gone.
But inside her, everything was still raining.
- Writer
