Continued from Beneath the Silence : Shared Spaces (click to read)
Ethan sat at his usual spot by the window, the hum of the coffee shop settling around him like white noise. His laptop screen glowed with unread emails, but his attention kept drifting to the seat across the room—the one Hannah had claimed just two days ago.
She wasn’t there.
For the first time since he’d noticed her, the absence felt jarring. At first, he had chalked it up to coincidence—maybe she was running late or had chosen a different seat. But now, on the second day of her absence, he felt a strange restlessness settle over him.
Ethan stared at the door each time it opened, a quiet flicker of anticipation he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying. His routine was the same—coffee, reports, a brief pause to let the day’s weight settle—but something about her presence had softened the edges of those moments. Her absence, however small in the grand scheme of things, felt like a missing note in the background rhythm of his life.
He tapped the edge of his coffee cup, his mind wandering. He didn’t even know much about her. Just her name, Hannah. Her soft smile and the way her voice had a calm, steady warmth to it. Yet, he found himself wondering—where had she gone?
Was she okay?
Ethan leaned back in his chair, glancing out the window as people passed by in a blur. He wasn’t the kind of person to chase after connections, too used to keeping his distance, guarding his energy for the responsibilities he carried. But now he realized how quickly he’d grown accustomed to her presence, to the way her curiosity about him had made him see himself differently, even if just for a moment.
As the hours slipped by, he caught himself hoping that maybe tomorrow she’d walk through the door, coffee in hand, with that quiet spark in her eyes. Until then, all he could do was wait and let the weight of her absence settle, as silently as everything else he carried.
Ethan sat at his usual spot by the window, the hum of the coffee shop settling around him like white noise. His laptop screen glowed with unread emails, but his attention kept drifting to the seat across the room—the one Hannah had claimed just two days ago.
She wasn’t there.
For the first time since he’d noticed her, the absence felt jarring. At first, he had chalked it up to coincidence—maybe she was running late or had chosen a different seat. But now, on the second day of her absence, he felt a strange restlessness settle over him.
Ethan stared at the door each time it opened, a quiet flicker of anticipation he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying. His routine was the same—coffee, reports, a brief pause to let the day’s weight settle—but something about her presence had softened the edges of those moments. Her absence, however small in the grand scheme of things, felt like a missing note in the background rhythm of his life.
He tapped the edge of his coffee cup, his mind wandering. He didn’t even know much about her. Just her name, Hannah. Her soft smile and the way her voice had a calm, steady warmth to it. Yet, he found himself wondering—where had she gone?
Was she okay?
Ethan leaned back in his chair, glancing out the window as people passed by in a blur. He wasn’t the kind of person to chase after connections, too used to keeping his distance, guarding his energy for the responsibilities he carried. But now he realized how quickly he’d grown accustomed to her presence, to the way her curiosity about him had made him see himself differently, even if just for a moment.
As the hours slipped by, he caught himself hoping that maybe tomorrow she’d walk through the door, coffee in hand, with that quiet spark in her eyes. Until then, all he could do was wait and let the weight of her absence settle, as silently as everything else he carried.
PS: link to the next part - Beneath the Silence 4 : Quiet Moments and You
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(my humble request, please, dont be so cruel)
