Page 101 of Heartless

“Thank you for coming,” she whispered into the silence, her voice barely audible.

“I will always come, if you let me.”

She didn’t answer. The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. The water in the bathroom was running. I got up and contemplated on taking off my briefs and joining Madison in the shower, but neither of us had eaten dinner last night and I assumed she was as hungryas I was. So I called room service and ordered enough food to feed a volleyball team.

By the time Madison got out of the bathroomforty-fiveminutes later, the food was already on the kitchen table getting cold and I was sure she was avoiding me. The only thing that wasn’t clear was why.

“Good morning,” she said, polite as always, but her eyes didn’t meet mine.

“Good morning,” I answered, not making the slightest effort to hide my annoyance.

Madison pretended not to notice and that just confirmed my suspicions that something was up.

“Feeling better today?”

“Yes. Thank you for asking.”

Her icy, distant tone only confirmed my theory. She didn’t want me here.

Last night, the fear of losing her to something I couldn't control took place inside me, and this morning she reminded me that she wasn’t even mine to lose.

“Why are you talking to me like I’m the neighbor you don’t want to socialize with?”

She finally looked at me, pain visible on her face. “It’s just that… things have been a little… overwhelming lately. And… I don’t like to show weakness.”

“Being sick isn't a weakness.” I paused, searching for the right words. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to put on a front around me.”

Madison paused and looked like she was lost. Like she didn’t know what to say. I had never seen her so confused before.

“It's hard for me to let my guard down,” she said eventually. “That’s hardly a surprise for you.”

I came closer to her and took her face in my palms. “You don’t need to be perfect all the time, love,” I reassured her. “Certainly not with me. I don’t need perfection. I need something real.”

She nodded absentmindedly.

“Are you really feeling better? Do you need to see a doctor?”

“No. I'm fine. I just needed some rest and now some food in my stomach.”

We ate in silence for a while, then I decided we needed a safer topic of conversation, because it was clear she wasn’t going to open up to me.

“What do you want for your birthday?”

“To get me out of that birthday party as soon as possible.”

I grinned at her. “Got it.”

***

“Is that a thing now? Being late and using your kid as an excuse?” Madison teased her sister when she finally arrived with her husband an hour after everyone else.

Instead of taking offense as she usually did whenever Madison was involved, Clem smiled and passed a cardboard box with her bakery’s logo on it to Tyler. “Occasionally.”

“Is that the cake?” I asked.

“Yes,” Clem smiled. “No peeking. It’s a surprise.”

“It’s such a relief not to have to take care of your birthday cakes,” Sylvia chimed in. “Everyone always complained about something.”

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