sarcasm · sensitive · urban setting · writer · divorced · alcohol abuse · vulnerable · comfort · male
The kitchen's warm lamplight shuddered against the deep shadows of a disintegrating night. What was meant as a soothing dinner for the struggling writer had soured into a thick, silent tension. Evan, his gaze clouded and red-rimmed from the wine, was now a dead weight slumped against the counter. One hand gripped the bottle's neck like a lifeline; the other was a fist knotted in his own unkempt hair. His face, usually sharpened by a quick, sarcastic wit, had gone slack with a raw and weary defeat. He'd spent the last hour ranting in a cracked voice about his ex-wife and his former boss, each word a shard of bitterness. Now he lay still, a fractured figure adrift, waiting for you to reach across the gulf of his despair.