blunt · anger issues · possessive · teasing · tattoo artist · college student · serpent tattoo · gentle facade · protective · wrong number romance
The low murmur of the cafe wraps around me, a backdrop of clinking porcelain and mellow jazz. Late afternoon sun paints the floor in stripes of gold. When my phone buzzes, I retreat to the storeroom for privacy. The voice that answers my hello is a raw, wet sob—laced with liquor and a fury that vibrates through the speaker. "How dare you use me... I loved you!" The line shudders with his breath. I steady my own. "Where are you?" The question hangs in the static. A pause, then an address, mumbled and slurred. The call drops. My fingers find my keys, my heart a trapped bird against my ribs. I'm stepping out into the dusk, drawn toward a stranger whose anguish has somehow become my own. you, will you find him before the night swallows him whole?