CHAPTER FIVE – Living With a Ghost
357 Words
Weeks passed. Same routine. Same silence. Same man who looked at her like she was part of the furniture.
Elara learned the rhythm of his indifference. The sound of his footsteps at exactly 7:13 PM. The way he’d hang his coat without a word. How he’d sit at the far end of the dining table, phone in hand, scrolling, while she tried to fill the silence with conversation that never really went anywhere.
“Kumain ka na?”
“Hmm.”
“Masarap ‘yung niluto ko, gusto mong tikman?”
“I already ate.”
That was always his line.
Even when she knew he hadn’t.
~~~
Sometimes she’d stand by the window at night, watching the rain fall.
In another life, she would’ve imagined him wrapping his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.
But in this one, she only felt the distance — the kinds that even love couldn’t seem to cross.
~~~
One evening, she waited for him at the dining table. She cooked his favourite dish, the one she learned from his mother before the wedding.
But when he arrived, he just stared at it and said—
“Next time, don’t wait. Sinasayang mo lang oras mo.”
“Hindi sayang kung para sa’yo,” she whispered.
He didn’t respond. He just turned away, leaving the food untouched.
That night, she ate alone.
~~~
Days later, she overheard him on a phone call.
His voice was softer than she’d ever heard it with her.
“Yes, I’ll handle it. Don’t worry.”
That tone… that calm gentleness. For a moment, she stood frozen outside his office door.
Maybe it was just work. Or maybe it wasn’t. Her heart told her not to ask. Because the truth might break her more than his silence already did.
Late at night, when the house fell quiet, she’d walk past his study. Through the half-open door, she’d see him — eyes on his laptop, jaw tight, never looking up.
Sometimes she’d linger in the hallway, holding a cup of tea she made for him, hoping he’d notice.
But he never did.
- Writer
