ONE STORY FOR ALL TANTALIZING PROMPTS OF 2022
When City Life Risked Their Long Relationship
The bigger the distance between them, the happier she felt
Ellia sighed when she finally saw the highrises of the city in the rearview mirror.
She had mixed feelings about her weekend with Aaron. He had moved to the city six months ago because of better job opportunities. For the first three months, they had seen each other every other week. Either she drove the couple of hours to see him, or he took the train to see her — he sold his car when he moved, to pay the deposit on his modern apartment.
Ellia shivered as she thought of the apartment on the twentieth floor. Yes, the view was fabulous, but being stuck in the lift for hours wasn’t her idea of fun times.
When they’d finally freed her from the complete darkness, Ellia found Aaron on the couch, engrossed in his phone. She was in tears, which soon turned to anger because he hadn’t once wondered where she was.
“I thought you had gone shopping,” Aaron said, one eye on his phone.
“I told you I’m only going down to the cellar to check on my car,” Ellie snapped.
“But,” he repeated, scrolling through messages on his phone, “I thought you went to the shops.”
Ellia gave up, as Aaron’s attention was already back to whatever was more important than her. That hadn’t been their first misunderstanding.
Or their first fight.
Her cheeks burned red when she remembered the last time he had visited her, about six weeks ago. By then she had already noticed the change in him, but didn’t want to admit to herself he wasn’t the same Aaron she had fallen in love with.
All she wanted that night was to reconnect with him. They had been together for so long, and she feared they were drifting apart.
Ellia walked into the bedroom wearing a bright red sheer negligee, only to find Aaron typing away on his laptop. She pushed the flash of irritation away, got onto the bed behind him and folded her arms around him while kissing his neck.
“Not now, Ell,” he said, “I need to finish this email.”
“Oh, I am sure what I have for you is much better,” Ellia said, and ran her tongue over his auricle.
He moaned, but not with the lust she had hoped to evoke in him. No, there was only irritation.
“Is your job more important than me?” she asked, moving to sit next to him.
A flash of guilt crossed his face when he looked at her. At least that was something.
Then his eyes moved down to her breasts, clearly visible through the sheer material. A shimmer of lust flickered in his eyes. He looked back at his screen, then at Ellia’s face, and reluctantly closed his laptop.
When his hand slipped under the negligee to cup her breast, Ellia struggled to get in the mood again. She fought her mind, trying to concentrate on his hands and mouth caressing her body.
His fingers found the tender flesh between her legs. Something felt off, and once more Ellia willed her lust to return. Aaron had to work hard to finally coax a climax from her.
When he lay down on top of her, his passionless kiss made her realize it wasn’t only her. Aaron’s head wasn’t in the game either, despite him entering her with force, and fucking her like there was no tomorrow. Even his grunting sounded fake when he came deep inside her.
He didn’t even take the time to catch his breath before he opened his laptop again.
Ellia sighed again, now only seeing the highway behind her.
In hindsight, she now knew their relationship had already been over that night. She had been on a sinking ship these past weeks. Aaron’s job and his city life had become more important than their relationship; more important than her.
Last night in bed, her back rigid and turned to him, she finally admitted to herself: it was time to end it.
By the time Aaron got up this morning, she had already packed her bag.
“It’s over, Aaron,” she said even before he took the first sip of his coffee. “We each have to go our own way.”
He looked at her, and it hurt to see relief in his eyes.
Ellia picked up her bags, hoping he would at least give her one more hug. Instead, he took another sip of his coffee, went to the couch and opened his laptop as if she wasn’t still standing in his apartment.
She quietly opened and closed the door behind her, taking the stairs down to her car, and with each step, she felt lighter.
Hours later, in the early afternoon, Ellia turned off the highway and followed the signs to the small town where she had grown up.
Lightness filled her heart driving on the two-lane road, surrounded by beautiful nature. She opened her window, taking a deep breath to smell the crisp ocean air.
Rounding a bend in the road, the town lay before her in all its beautiful glory.
No highrises here, she thought, seeing the tallest building — the church — in the distance.
Peace enveloped her body when she drove into the main street. She needed milk and bread, but the urge to get home was bigger. Smiling and waving at people as she drove through the small town, she steered her car up the hill towards her home, parking next to it.
Before retrieving her bags from the backseat, she looked out over the smooth blue water of the ocean, hearing the waves crashing on the rocks below.
Unlocking the door to her monumental home — the old lighthouse — she knew she had made the right decision. Not only in buying the lighthouse when the town council wanted to demolish it after building the new one finished, but also in ending the relationship with Aaron.
He had moved on, left their town and her behind him, and now it was time for her to build her life here, no matter what the future holds for her.
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