Weather

He had nothing to say. Between the water beading down the empty rocks glass and the candle running low on wax, there’s nothing he could possibly add.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like her. He’d loved her. But in that exact moment, the distance between him and the woman he’d known since high school grew wider. Every time someone laughed in the restaurant another leaf of the table was added.

Touch couldn’t mend the moment. Words couldn’t be said. Time whip-lashed between glacial and fever-pitched. He could feel the need to adjust his collar, loosen then tie she gifted to them on their 10th anniversary.

She raised her hand. It was the first sign of life at the table. He saw her eyes calling out for a waiter. Then she pointed to the wine glass in front of her, french tips glistening in the light. She mouther thank you but her eyes said something else he couldn’t read.

“Thirsty?” he said.

“No.”

“I could use a water.”’

He could tell she was staring at him. His jacket became tighter; his socks, sweatier; the part of his pants under his palms, hotter. Laughs from strangers around him pierced through the ringing in his ears.

This is hell, he thought.