TheEmptyTable
1095 Words
Chapter 6
As they exited the ward, Miguel and Remi said their goodbyes to Lyra before leaving her behind at the hospital.
She was left with Mr Garcia at the hospital.
“Let me take you home,” he offered as he stared at her, with a plea evident in his eyes.
He leaned forward holding her by her hand.
“I insist,” he said, his voice commanding
She shook her head in disapproval as she released her hand from his grip.
“I can go home on my own,” she said as she walked out on him.
She went straight to her car as she got in, zooming off without sparing Mr Garcia a glance.
As she drove off, Mateo’s earlier words at the ward hit her.
She was reminded of the first time Mateo had chosen work over her.
The restaurant glowed with warm golden lights, the low hum of conversation blending with the soft piano music in the background. Lyra shifted in her seat, her fingers brushing over the cool stem of her wine glass. The roses Mateo had sent earlier sat in the middle of the table, their scarlet petals vibrant against the white tablecloth.
She glanced at her watch. 7:42pm.
“He’ll be here soon,” she whispered to herself, forcing a smile.
Mateo always worked late, but he had promised that tonight would be different.
Of course it was their anniversary,he had to be there.
“Would you like to order now, ma’am?” the waiter asked, hovering politely.
“Oh, no, thank you. I’ll wait for my husband.”
Her voice came out a little too bright, too hopeful. The waiter nodded, but his eyes carried something else, pity.
By 8:15, she had checked her phone five times. No missed calls. No messages. She shifted uncomfortably, aware of the couples around her.
A blonde hair woman two tables away leaned across the candlelight to kiss her partner, and Lyra quickly looked away, staring at the untouched bread basket in front of her.
At 8:30, the waiter returned, lowering his voice. “Are you sure you don’t want to order something, ma’am?”
Lyra swallowed the lump in her throat,already loosing her patience.
“No, I… I’ll just wait a little longer.”
Her wine glass was nearly empty now. She twirled the liquid inside, watching the candlelight ripple across its surface. Her reflection in the glass looked tired, lonely.
The phone finally buzzed at 9:05, and she snatched it up, her heart leaping. But it wasn’t Mateo. Just the reminder she had set that morning: “Anniversary Dinner – 7:00 PM.”
Her throat tightened.
By 9:30, the roses looked a little wilted, and so did her smile. She gathered her purse, trying not to notice the sympathetic glances from the waitstaff.
Just as she stepped outside, the cool night air wrapping around her bare shoulders, her phone buzzed again. This time it was Mateo.
Sorry, I lost track of time. Big project at work. Rain check?
Lyra stared at the glowing screen, her thumb hovering over the keyboard. She thought of the velvet box still in her purse, the silver cufflinks she’d had engraved with his initials. A gift he would never see tonight.
Her lips trembled as she whispered into the night, “Rain check.” The words felt bitter, like ashes in her mouth.
She hissed as she slipped the phone back into her bag.She gestured with her hand calling the waiter to the table.She ordered more wine.
When she was done drinking, she hailed a cab, and climbed inside without replying his text.
The apartment was quiet when Lyra unlocked the door.
Too quiet. No music, no warm light waiting, just the dim glow of the hallway lamp. She slipped off her heels slowly, her body heavy from the weight of disappointment more than the evening itself.
On the console by the door lay Mateo’s keys. He was already home.
Her chest tightened. So he hadn’t been stuck at the office after all.
Lyra walked into the living room, her heels dangling loosely from her fingers. The soft glow of the television lit the space, muted voices from a late-night talk show filling the silence.
Mateo was sprawled on the couch, his tie loosened, a half-empty glass of whiskey resting on the coffee table.
He looked up, startled, when the door clicked shut behind her.
“You’re back,” he said casually, as though he hadn’t left her sitting alone for hours, her heart shrinking with every tick of the clock.
Lyra dropped her shoes by the door. “Back? I never left. I waited for you, Mateo, at the restaurant. For two hours.”
Mateo’s brow furrowed, his gaze flicking briefly to the TV before returning to her.
“Lyra, I told you,work was insane tonight. I lost track of time.”
Her laugh was brittle, almost sharp. “Lost track of time? You were here before me.” She motioned to the keys on the console, her eyes narrowing. “So which is it, Mateo? The office or… here, drinking whiskey and pretending not to care?”
He shifted uncomfortably, his jaw tightening. “Don’t make this a bigger deal than it is. We can go out another night. It’s just dinner.”
Lyra’s chest burned at his words. Just dinner. The roses. The engraved cufflinks. The hours of waiting, clinging to hope that he still remembered what tonight meant. All of it dismissed with two careless words.
Her hand trembled as she pulled the small velvet box from her purse and set it on the table in front of him. “Happy anniversary,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
Mateo stared at it, unmoving. The weight of his indifference settled heavily in the space between them.
Lyra straightened her back, blinking away the tears threatening to fall. For the first time, she realized it wasn’t the empty table at the restaurant that broke her, it was the emptiness that had been growing in their marriage all along.
She turned toward the hallway. “Goodnight, Mateo.”
Her footsteps echoed softly as she disappeared into the bedroom, leaving the roses to wilt on the table and the cufflinks unopened.
Mateo leaned back on the couch, staring at the untouched gift box.
For a brief moment, something flickered across his face,guilt, regret, maybe even fear, but he pushed it down, reaching instead for his glass of whiskey.
The ice clinked softly, the sound filling the silence where words should have been.
- Writer
