Chapter 9
595 Words
Chapter 9: Absent
Most of the team was still in the studio, heads down, hands busy—some sketching, others bent over sewing machines, a few clustered around dress forms like surgeons mid-operation. The usual low buzz of conversation and movement filled the space.
But for Feliz, the room felt quieter.
Not because it wasn’t chaotic.
But because he wasn’t there.
No loud teasing voice bouncing off the walls. No obnoxious tapping on her desk. No footsteps circling her space like he owned it. Just... silence.
She sat at her station, staring at a half-finished bodice. Her fingers pinched the fabric between them, but she hadn’t sewn a single stitch in the last ten minutes.
Her eyes darted sideways.
Sly’s workstation?
Still empty.
She turned away quickly, like she hadn’t been waiting to see if he’d suddenly show up. Again.
This was the third day he’d come in late and left early. No teasing. No sarcastic comments. No casual nudges or mocking glances from across the room. Just short greetings, quick check-ins, and gone.
It was unlike him.
The air didn’t move the same without him. It felt... flat.
Feliz didn't want to admit it, but she missed him. She missed the noise he brought. The ridiculous commentary. The way he made the day less dull even when he was being insufferable.
She let out a quiet sigh and pushed away from her desk. Walked toward the coffee machine she’d already visited twice today just to keep moving.
She poured a cup and stared at it blankly.
Feliz [soft, bitter]
“He’s just busy. That’s all.”
But it didn’t feel like just busy.
It felt like something else. Something he wasn’t saying.
She returned to her desk, pretending to care about her sketches. But all she could think about was the way he used to lean in close, like he had a secret. Like the whole world was a joke only he and she were in on.
Now it was like someone had drawn a line and told him to stay on his side.
She blinked hard, her mind pulling her somewhere else. A moment tucked in the back of her brain that she had tried very hard to forget.
That night.
That almost-kiss.
The room had been darker, quieter. Just the two of them working late. Her hands full of beads. His eyes on her the entire time.
He stepped closer. Close enough that she could feel his breath graze her cheek.
Sly [voice low, teasing]
“Scared I might ruin your perfect little world?”
Feliz [snapping, a little too fast]
“You don’t scare me.”
But he had. Not in a way she could explain. Not in a way she was ready for.
Because if she had leaned in too…
She swallowed hard, forcing the thought away.
Her eyes shifted back to his workstation.
Still empty.
Feliz [quietly, almost a whisper to herself]
“Where did you go?”
A beat of silence.
Then—
Sly [from behind, voice unreadable]
“Were you looking for me?”
She turned sharply, startled. He stood just inside the doorway, half-wet from the light drizzle outside, coat draped over one arm. No smirk. No teasing glint.
Just unreadable eyes.
She froze.
Sly walked past her without another word and sat at his station. Began setting up like nothing had happened. Like he hadn’t just vanished for hours without explanation.
Feliz watched him.
He was there.
But not really.
And she didn’t know why… but it bothered her more than she wanted it to.
- Writer
