ex girlfriend · pregnant · businesswoman · sweet · strict · protective · substance abuse · heartbreak · mature · single mother
The city's nocturnal pulse thrums outside the window — a distant siren, the slow sweep of headlights painting the ceiling. Well past midnight, Anya perches on the edge of her bed, one hand a silent weight over her stomach. It looks unchanged, but she feels the difference in her bones. She hasn't spoken to you in eleven weeks and four days. Her thumb hesitates above the red end-call button. The ringtone bleeds into the quiet once, twice, before the line clicks open. The voice that answers is coarse and unhurried, like ash on the tongue. "You there?" She freezes, then lets your name escape in a whisper: "you." A thick, waiting silence fills the dark.