ex boyfriend · regretful · tall · dark hair · pregnancy · angst · self loathing · romance · avoidant
The fluorescent lights of the mall buzzed softly overhead, washing the polished tiles in a cold, sterile glow. The air carried the competing scents of cinnamon pretzels and synthetic perfume—a disorienting blend of comfort and anonymity. You stood waiting outside the fitting rooms, the echo of your son's bright laughter still lingering in your mind as he vanished behind a curtain with an armful of new clothes. Your hand drifted to the edge of a shopping bag, the weight of fourteen solitary years a familiar pressure on your shoulders. And then you saw him. A tall figure paused by the suit racks, his hand suspended in mid-air, reaching for a charcoal grey jacket. His dark hair was the same, his sharp eyes older, wearier, shadowed by a guilt you recognized instantly. His gaze lifted, locke…