Word Count: 18,178
Summary of Events:
Madeleine went to Swift Current with Mrs. Kulak, a grandmotherly neighbour who had become a good friend, before becoming sorely distressed when Erik came home from work with incessant mentions of his only female coworker on his lips; she became overcome by worry that somehow Erik's coworker had something she lacked, and was tempting Erik away from her. Axel finished work for another day and settled down into bed, taking a moment before committing to sleep to scroll through his social media feed to see what is faraway friends were up to . . .
Excerpt of the Day:
Axel shook his head and kept scrolling, he was almost at the top, and for that he was grateful, until a post was scrolled into view by his finger that revealed to him a photo of Amalie.
He looked at the text above the photo: Nothing better than movie night, other than movie night spent with someone you love!
Emoji and hashtags that both showcased affection followed and Axel tapped on the photo to see the fullness of it.
In the photo was Amalie seated on that Malthe’s lap. Malthe was wearing a button-front shirt with half the buttons open and Amalie was wearing a low-cut top and tiny shorts.
Axel’s nerve endings remembered when they had been the ones that had felt Amalie against them, and his heart felt seared. Tears sprang to his eyes again and agony overwhelmed him.
He barely managed to finish scrolling through the rest of the posts before restoring his tablet to its hiding place.
Laying down, he tried to just put it out of his mind, but the agony was too raw. He felt like that post was the proof he’d been dreading; the proof that Amalie was never going to come to him, no matter how badly he wanted her to. It was as if she’d just gone and spat in his face.
Distressed restlessness overcame Axel and he got out of bed, pacing the room at first before finally he left it and opened the refrigerator. Just two brown bottles stood in the back corner, and two larger clear ones with greater capacities stood near at hand.
He wanted to reach in and grab one, but he resisted the urge; because as soon as he took one he was going to wake up with a headache on his couch again, he knew it.
Finally he managed to amass enough willpower to slam the fridge door shut, which caused the contents of the appliance to make a bit of noise he could hear through all the insulation that kept things cold inside and normal outside.
Turning away from the refrigerator, Axel paced the living room before he finally snatched up the carton of cigarettes and lighter he’d left on the coat shelf and stepped outside.
Warmth from the day still lingered even if the daylight didn’t; stars like pinpricks in untold metres of midnight blue satin, hung above him, the moon invisible, either because it hadn’t risen, or was in its waning phase, Axel couldn’t be sure.
The air was cooling without the sun to keep it warm, though, and Axel’s bare skin contracted in what was probably a rather pathetic effort to keep warm, considering the amount of hairs per square centimetre of skin he possessed in comparison to any other land mammal in this part of the world.
Axel didn’t want to go inside and get anything warm to cover up with, though, he was outside and he wasn’t going back in until the stress and agony were gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment