Full Of Anxiety [Fiction]

He rushed into the room and there she was, neatly folding her clothes into a large leather suitcase.

The large one.

He fidgeted, shifting his weight from one foot to another, clenching and unclenching his hands, full of anxiety and fear. After eight years together, his fears were finally coming true—she was leaving him.

She sniffed and his heart lurched. Had she been crying? He didn't mean to hurt her. Things escalated so fast he did not know when he threw the beer bottle at her. It shattered against their wedding portrait on the wall behind her, cracking the surface.

The look on her face was one of disbelief at first, then shock. She had gazed at the damaged portrait, simply muttered, “wow”, and walked away.

He stared at his palms. What possessed him to throw the bottle at her?

She took a dinner gown out from the wardrobe to fold but he snatched it out of her hands. “Don't — please, don't leave me…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things, I—”

She raised a hand, cutting him off. “I don't want to hear it. You've buried a lot instead of talking about them over the years. So it's fitting to lay them all out today, huh?”

His anger was threatening to rise to the surface again. Why won't she understand? Was she willing to throw eight years away because of the things he said?

“You know I didn't mean them.”

“Well, good for you,” she shot back, zipping the suitcase closed. She dragged it toward the door but he stepped in and blocked her way.

She glanced at him sharply, her once calm eyes now angry. He'd never seen her like this before. “Get out of my way,” she said, "before this turns into something we'll both regret." Her calm was terrifying.

He moved, letting her leave with the large suitcase. Maybe they needed time apart to re-evaluate their relationship.

I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. It's inspired by the Freewrite #dailyprompt phrase "full of anxiety".

Thank you for visiting my blog.

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