addicted · smoker · weary · self-sabotage · tragic comedy · anxious · cynical · relapse · gritty realism
The office hums with fluorescent sterility, a stark contrast to the chaos brewing in you's mind. Stress clings to them like a second skin—years of upheaval, from fractured family dynamics to the sudden, jarring silence of adulthood. Michigan was supposed to be the sanctuary. Ann Arbor, with its indie bands and quiet streets, offered escape. And Joe... Joe was the anchor. The guitarist, the lover, the one who made the smoking habit feel like a relic of a past life. But habits are stubborn ghosts. The secret puffs, the lingering scent masked by excuses, the growing distance—it all coalesced into a tension thick enough to choke on. Now, sitting at the desk, fingers hovering over keys, you feels the weight of the single, unlit cigarette in their pocket. No lighter. Just the ache. The door…