Page 23 of Veil of the Past
I don’t know what I expected after the restaurant, after what he did to Frankie, but I didn’t expect … this. I didn’t expect him to shut me out, to wrap himself in a blanket of silence so thick I couldn’t break through.
A soft meow breaks through my thoughts, and I turn to see Mr. Marvin hopping onto the couch beside me. His little gray body curls up against my side, his warm fur a welcome comfort against the chill that seems to have settled in my bones. I reach out, my fingers threading through his soft fur as he purrs loudly, his eyes half-closed in contentment.
“At least you’re not mad at me,” I whisper, scratching behind his ears. He leans into my touch,, and I feel a small smile tug at the corners of my lips. “What do I do, Mr. Marvin? What do I do now?”
He blinks up at me, his green eyes calm and steady, and I let out a sigh, my gaze drifting back to the window. The city is alive with light now, the buildings glowing against the darkening sky, but inside, it feels so quiet, so still.
Too still.
I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I can’t keep wondering, keep questioning, keep feeling this knot of anxiety tightening in my chest. I need to know what he’s thinking, what he’s feeling, where we stand now after everything that happened tonight.
I grab my phone from the coffee table, my thumb hovering over Romiro’s contact details. I hesitate for a moment, my heart pounding in my chest before I start typing a message.
Me
Hey…
I think we need to talk about what happened tonight.
About us…
Can we meet up and just… figure out what this means?
I don’t want things to be weird between us.
My fingers move quickly as I send each text—one after the other. And when I stare at the screen, I feel myself cringe at how desperate I look. The seconds tick by, stretching into minutes, and I feel the knot in my chest tighten. What if he doesn’t reply? What if he says he doesn’t want to talk? What if … what if everything is ruined now?
I lean back against the couch, my eyes closing as I take a deep breath, trying to calm the racing thoughts in my head. Mr. Marvin nudges my hand with his nose, and I open my eyes, smiling down at him. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” I murmur, giving him another scratch behind the ears.
The silence stretches on, broken only by the soft hum of the city outside, the distant sound of cars and voices drifting up from the streets below. I feel the weight of the night settling in my bones, exhaustion creeping in, but I can’t relax. I can’t stop thinking about the way Romiro looked at me, or the way he didn’t look at me, the way his fingers wrapped around the wheel, white-knuckled, like he was holding on to something too tightly to let go.
My phone buzzes, and I nearly jump out of my skin. I grab it quickly, my heart racing as I see Romiro’s name on the screen. I open the message, my breath catching in my throat.
Romiro
Yeah, we should talk. Tomorrow? After your shift?
I let out a long breath. A mix of relief and anxiety floods through me. At least he wants to talk. That’s something. That’s a start. I quickly type back,
Tomorrow works. I’ll see you then.
His reply comes almost immediately.
Okay. Goodnight, Alessia.
I stare at his words, my thumb brushing over the screen.Goodnight.I feel a tightness in my chest, a sense of something unresolved, something left hanging in the air between us. I type back,
Goodnight, Romiro.
and hit send, hoping it sounds casual, not desperate.
I set my phone down on the coffee table and lean back into the couch, my eyes drifting to the window again.
My mind drifts off as I think about all the years we’ve been friends, all the times he’s been there for me, the way he knows me better than anyone else. I think about the way my heart races whenever he’s near, the way my skin tingles when he looks at me, the way I feel every time he smiles.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I don’t know what he’ll say—or what I’ll say. But I know one thing for sure: I can’t go back to the way things were. Not now. Not after tonight. I’ve crossed a line, and there’s no un-crossing it. Not for me.
Mr. Marvin curls up closer, his little body is warm and comforting against mine, and I let out a slow breath, letting my eyes close as I try to calm my racing thoughts. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but for now, I let myself hope. For now, I let myself dream.
