You're Hurting Me
1016 Words
Greg’s POV
“For goodness sake, you’re stressing me, Evelyn!”
The words left my mouth harder than I meant them to, my fist hitting the glass table before I could stop myself.
The frame beside me rattled our engagement picture and then fell.
Shattered.
I didn’t reach for it.
I didn’t even look.
Her voice rose softly behind me, already trembling.
“Stress?.. Greg? But… I only asked why you didn’t eat dinner. I only asked why you weren’t picking up your calls at work.”
I said nothing.
I couldn’t.
Because if I opened my mouth again, I’d say something worse.
Instead, I started taking off my suit.
I felt her move closer. Her hands lifted, instinctively reaching for me the way they always used to.
“Stop.” I said. My voice came out harsh and too direct.
She froze.
I saw it from the corner of my eye, the way her hands hovered in the air before falling back to her sides.
The pause hurt more than I expected, I knew but I ignored it.
The jacket slipped from my hands onto the chair.
I loosened my tie, yanking at it like it was choking me.
She used to do this part.
Used to stand close, fingertips brushing my collarbone, smiling as she slowly undid my buttons like she had all the time in the world.
Not anymore.
I reached for my white shirt, one she didn’t recognize, pulled it out of the hanger and started to wear it.
“You’re going out… again?” she asked.
I kept my back to her, buttoning my shirt.
“I don’t understand,” she said, voice cracking. “You come in late and now you’re leaving again?”
“You’re hurting me, Greg.”
Her words hit something raw in my chest, but I didn’t turn around.
I sprayed my cologne, definitely too much of it because I needed the scent to drown everything else out. Her voice. The guilt. The questions.
“Greg, answer me.”
I pressed my fingers to my forehead, counting silently. One. Two. Three.
“I need space, Evelyn.”
The words came out calm, controlled but cold.
She swallowed.
I heard it.
“Space? You’re hurting me. Can’t you see I’m breaking?”
“I didn’t mean to,” I said automatically.
The words felt empty the moment they left my mouth.
She started crying.
That sound of her sobs was soft, broken and would tear me apart a long time ago.
Now it just made my chest tighten with irritation and something dangerously close to resentment.
I shut the wardrobe door harder than necessary.
The breeze brushed against her and I saw her flinch.
“I just wanted to talk,” she said carefully.
“You’ve been quiet all evening. You weren’t picking up your calls… I got worried.”
I didn’t look at her.
“You always want to talk,” I said. “That’s the problem.”
Silence stretched between us.
I felt her staring at me, waiting for something maybe an apology, an explanation, a sign that I was still hers.
“Every night it’s something,” I continued.
“A question. A look. I breathe and I’m supposed to explain.”
I exhaled sharply.
“I’ll be back by morning.”
I felt it then. The shift. The way her presence shrank behind me.
She didn’t argue.
She just stood there, small and quiet, and somehow that made everything worse.
I grabbed my keys and walked toward the door.
Behind me, I could almost hear her breaking.
My father’s voice echoed in my mind, loud and confident.
“She’s perfect for you, Greg. Together, you’ll be unstoppable.”
Perfect.
That word tasted bitter now.
I stepped out and shut the door.
The silence followed me down the hall.
I was halfway down the stairs when my phone rang.
Shit.
It was definitely Maya.
I stopped and hurried back upstairs only to see her holding my phone.
She had already picked my call.
I could no longer stop the annoyance that was brewing.
Why couldn’t she just let it go?
Her face was pale. Her hands were shaking.
“Greg… I’m waiting for you. It’s cold out here. I already left the house…” a voice which I was sure was Maya's poured in from my phone.
My stomach dropped.
I rushed toward her. “Give it to me.”
She turned, confused. “Greg, I…”
I snatched the phone from her hand and ended the call.
“I deserve some privacy,” I said sharply.
Her eyes filled instantly.
“Who’s she?” she whispered.
I clenched my jaw.
“You picked up my call,” I said.
She shook her head. “Your assistant, right? I just thought..maybe I could..”
“Why are you so needy?” I snapped, rubbing my temples. “God.”
Her voice rose, raw and filled with pain.
“I’m your fiancée! Of course I need you!”
The words hit me harder than I expected.
I scoffed, shaking my head.
“And you wonder why I want to be away from you.”
I turned and walked out before I could see her break completely.
When I got downstairs, I sat in the car with the engine off, hands gripping the wheel, my eyes falling on the passenger seat where she used to sit when we'd go for our dirty night escapades.
I took one last look at her staring at my car from the window.
And for a second, just a second, I felt something twist in my chest.
But I pushed it down.
Because guilt wouldn’t change anything.
Because love wasn’t supposed to feel like this.
Maybe I was already gone.
I started the ignition.
My phone rang again and the Bluetooth connected instantly.
"Where are you? Where's the address?"
"Umm...I sent it to him, didn't h-"
"Just tell me where you are"
"Blues Valley... just by the small cafe"
I disconnected.
All I needed was fresh air that didn't question me.
- Writer
