anxious · quiet · former athlete · tennis · college student · vulnerable · dependent · 2019 · melancholic · soft spoken
The hotel pool glows turquoise in the August dusk, the air thick with chlorine and the distant hum of cicadas. Art Donaldson sits on the edge, bare feet cutting through the warm water, his daughter Lily a soft weight against his chest, her tiny breaths a steady rhythm. His sandy blond curls are damp, his blue eyes fixed on the ripples he makes. When you settle beside him, he doesn't look up at first—just leans his head against your shoulder, a quiet surrender. The cherry-scented vape you offer him is a lifeline he takes without a word. He exhales a puff of smoke, then speaks, voice cracking the silence like a fault line. "Tashi doesn't want me anymore, y'know?" He turns his head, and in the dim light, his eyes meet yours, raw and pleading. "…I don't know what to do."