When the room went dark, she heard her name. She said nothing in reply but listened with sensual reverence at the sound of her name. Her breathing became more erratic, unsure of who called out to her from within the darkness. She held her breath refusing to betray her location. To hide herself from acknowledging she’s not alone, she closed her eyes and clenched her jaws tightly shut. For a split second, she remembered the voluntary solitude she felt at the bottom of the pool, till the lack of oxygen forced her to surface to the capricious world above. “Steph,” came the voice again. It was a male voice, one that snapped her out of her induced reverie as he called out her name once more, aware he was closing in on her. Again, she said nothing as she caught the flicker of a shadow betraying his presence. She glared angrily his way, half in blindness and half in ocular awareness that solitude of any kind is a deceptive luxury. “I was looking for you,” he said. “I don’t care!” she hissed. “Anything to get away from my ex and anyone connected to him!” “Even from me?” “No, Trevor but I know you’re still friends with him so I know,” she moaned before cutting herself off. She wished she said nothing as Trevor’s voice got clearer and she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck. “I haven’t seen you in over three years,” he said softly though with a tinge of melancholy. “Why? Who else knows I’m here? Come to think of it, how did you even find me?” “I know you,” he said trying to reach for her hand but the darkness of the room made it harder for him to see as she clumsily dodged his attempt only for her to trip over a chair. “Damn myopia!” she swore. “No difference in the darkness!” he snapped. “I see that nothing has changed since before the pandemic!” After a few sloppy attempts, Trevor was able to find the switch of the lamp allowing them to see each other and what else is in the room. “It’s still dark,” Steph lamented. “I get to see you,” Trevor grinned trying to maintain the conversation. “Too bad aircons, ventilation or whatever isn’t working!” Steph walked away from Trevor and peered out of the window, which was slightly ajar. Trevor didn’t follow but kept her in his gaze. He didn’t want her to leave again. Steph for her part remained motionless. “Do you remember the last time I saw you?” she asked almost dumbly. “The swimming pool!” he retorted giddily. “Yes. It was a few hours before dawn; not unlike this. You also thought you were alone when you sat by the pool’s edge, taking in the cool night air.” “The night air isn’t so cool now!” he chuckled with a hint of caution. “Climate change!” she replied to face him. “Yes … change!” “I watched you from the pool bottom with your feet dangling in the water. Clearly you were not planning to take a dip as you were a little overdressed for that!” “You pulled me in!” “Not intentionally. You were in my way when I needed to surface! Couldn’t hold my breath any longer!” “And I had that unintended swim to cool off!” “For someone who whined why I caught you off guard, you didn’t seem to want to leave the water!” “My clothes needed to dry off first!” “I forgot you stripped off just your shirt and shoes right before my eyes and tossed them out of the water!” “You didn’t want to look away,” said Steph who giggled unexpectedly before going quiet as she stepped a little into the shadow to avert his gaze. “I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Don’t be! Nothing else happened.” “It’s just,” but Trevor couldn’t bring himself to say more. “That day, I caught my then lover, Mike trying to hit on other girls. These girls knew he was taken and knew who I was personally.” “They told you?” “No, I caught him in the act. Surprisingly, these same girls told me in front of Mike that I was dating a slut and I was only into him because of his looks.” “Were you?” “In a way, yes and I’d be a liar if I said he &amp; I had anything more beyond lustful attraction!” “What about that moment in the pool?” “You &amp; I always had an emotional connection that was half shrouded in the darkness of pre-dawn.” Trevor struggled for words but his reaction caused Steph to step away from the shadows and to stand before him. Trevor forgot his buttoned down shirt was partly open due to the heat of the room till Steph placed her palm on his bare chest accidentally exposing his shoulders when she nearly lost balance! “Humidity gets to me,” he said sheepishly, embarrassed he’s dank with sweat and awkwardly avoiding the topic. “Why didn’t you stop me?” as she was holding back her tears while pulling away. “Don’t dodge this!” “Stop you from?” “You know what? I hid from everyone due to the embarrassment of how Mike &amp; I broke up!” “It wasn’t your fault!” “Why are you so casual about this?” she suddenly pushed him, annoyed by what seemed to come off as Trevor’s apathy in Steph’s mind. “Huh?” “The way you looked at me in the pool then! The sardonic grin every time we passed each other by! You KNOW I found and still find you more attractive than Mike! You knew that Mike was trying to be emotionally abusive and controlling but here you are then as you are now looking at me dumbly unsure what to do!” “I don’t know what to say!” Trevor stuttered. “Liar! All I want is to love and be loved back but all I am surrounded with are weak men that expect girls to make the first move. When we do make the first move, they say we’re clingy, possessive, etc., and go on to cheat on us if they don't dump us at once with complimentary gaslighting!” “That’s not true! I just didn’t think I was ideal for you!” “Yeah, I heard that one before!” With Trevor stupefied by Steph’s outburst, he attempts to take a step towards Steph only for her to walk backwards away towards the open door of the room. Instinctively, Steph makes a grab for the lamp switch plunging the room back into darkness. Trevor calls out to Steph in the shadows but it was too late as she had just run out the door with only the echo of his voice as his companion!

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Shifting Season!

fossils12

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Dark Departure

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Carl Perito

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