The Coward shadows
563 Words
The morning light was a cruel intruder. It spilled across the tangled silk sheets, illuminating the evidence of our sin—the discarded clothes, the scent of s*x and sandalwood, and the faint, haunting stains of my lost innocence.
I was curled against Dante’s chest, my head resting on his heartbeat, when the sound of the front door’s heavy lock turning echoed through the silent penthouse.
Thud. Click.
"Elena? Dante? I’m back early!" Leo’s voice boomed from the foyer, sounding far too cheerful, far too innocent.
Panic, cold and sharp, replaced the warmth in my veins. Dante bolted upright, his muscles coiling like a spring. The "Beast" who had claimed me so boldly in the dark was gone, replaced by a man looking around in a frantic, wide-eyed terror.
"God... no," he hissed, his voice a jagged whisper.
"Dante, go! He’s coming down the hall!" I scrambled to pull the duvet over my naked body, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard it felt like it would c***k.
Dante didn't look at me with love. He looked at the door with guilt so thick it was a physical wall between us. He grabbed his trousers, pulling them on with trembling hands, his movements graceless and desperate. He looked like a thief caught in the act, not a man who had just worshiped my body for eight hours.
"Stay in bed. Don't let him in here," Dante commanded, his voice shaking. He didn't kiss me. He didn't even touch my hand. He scooped up the rest of his clothes and dived toward the walk-in closet just as Leo’s footsteps reached the door.
"El? You awake?" Leo called out, his hand on the doorknob.
"Leo! Stop!" I screamed, my voice cracking. "I’m... I’m not dressed! I stayed up late studying and I’m a mess!"
The knob stopped turning. "Oh, sorry, sis. I just wanted to tell you the merger went through. I’m going to go wake Dante up—we need to celebrate."
In the dark of the closet, I knew Dante was standing there, half-naked and breathless, hiding among my dresses like a coward. The staggering length of our night together felt like a curse now. The unyielding thickness of the silence in the room was suffocating.
"He... he’s not here, Leo!" I lied, the words tasting like ash. "He said he had an early workout at the gym. He left an hour ago."
"Really? His car is still downstairs," Leo mused. "Maybe he took an Uber. Whatever. I’m going to go jump in the shower. Meet me in the kitchen in twenty?"
"Yeah... twenty minutes," I whispered.
I heard Leo’s footsteps retreat. Silence returned, but it wasn't peaceful. Dante stepped out of the closet, fully dressed but looking utterly broken. He wouldn't meet my eyes. He looked at the bed, then at the floor, his face pale with a soul-crushing shame.
"We can't do this again, Elena," he said, his voice flat and dead. "I can't look him in the eye. I’m a dead man walking."
Without another word, he slipped out onto the balcony, disappearing over the railing to the fire escape just as he had done years ago when he was a teenager. He left me alone in the mess of our making, the cold realization hitting me: the night was a dream, but the guilt was our new reality
- Writer
