Cosy Nights

Date: 11^th Mar, 2023, Sat
Writing Prompt: Cosy Nights
 
***
 
The fire dances, crackling happily as it nibbles on the logs. The room is dark, except for the light from the fireplace; it’s the old-fashioned kind, with an exposed brick frame, and a poker standing by its side.
 
Megan and Zack sit side by side, their arms touching, their feet cocooned together under a plaid blanket, covering up to their thighs. Megan has her cup of hot chocolate nestled between her brought-up knees, her hands hidden under long sleeves as she cradles it while Zack has his settled on the carpet beside him. She blows on the surface, and takes a tentative sip; the steam fogs up her glasses, but it only takes a few seconds to clear.
 
The microwave hums in the corner in the tiny kitchenette, warming up the lasagne that Megan just loves, and Zack tolerates. But he has to admit, the smell of chicken and cheese is tantalising, making him salivate. Just a couple more minutes.
 
Megan rests her head on his left shoulder, and sighs. He leans his head on hers. They both stare at the fire, a contented smile on their faces. Everything feels warm, from their feet, to their stomachs, to their hearts.
 
“I’m so happy we’re here,” Megan says, breaking the comfortable silence they’d had.
 
“Yeah, me too.” Zack places his hand over her knee, and plants a kiss atop her head.
 
“Glad everything worked out at work. We almost couldn’t make it, huh.” Her voice is a nervous chuckle. He shakes his head. “Yeah. It’s been crazy at work these past few months. But I did promise you we’d come here, where we had our first holiday together. It’s been a while.”
 
“No kidding. Can you believe it’s been five years?” She turns to look at him. “Five years, baby.” His grin is a lopsided one. “Five great years.”
 
She returns to resting on his left shoulder. It’s quiet again but for the soft roar of the fire, and the purr of the microwave.
 
He thinks to when he first saw her.
 
He’d gone up to the HR department from his to submit some pesky paperwork they’d been bugging him for. He was in a rush, and annoyed, and frankly, in a bad mood.
 
But when he arrived there, he was greeted not by the grouchy Mdm Lai as he’d been in the past, but a pretty bespectacled girl whose voice was like velvet, and whose big bright eyes felt like they could read into his.
 
He’d spent the next couple of months working up the nerve to ask her out, coming up with the most random of excuses to go up to HR. His colleagues thought he was under probation, or getting fired, or in trouble of some sort.
 
And when she said Yes, he was so thrilled, he treated all his colleagues to a round of drinks he couldn’t really afford, and instantly regretted.
 
She complemented him in every way, so different from his one previous long-term relationship. Where he was nervous and anxious, she was calm and steady; where he was insecure and lacked confidence, she was encouraging and supportive. She’d helped him patch up his scars, have the courage to love again. She made the fears worth it.
 
He puts his arm around her, and she inches closer until he could smell her long brown hair—peonies.
 
“Where do you see us in the next five years, baby?” She doesn’t look at him, but he can feel her glance. “Um, what do you mean?” He clears his throat and laughs, and runs his hand through his hair.
 
“What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’? I do hope you’re thinking of us, maybe getting married?” She pulls away, her eyebrows raised, and sets her cup down on the carpet.
 
“Uh-huh. Of course.” He swallows. Those eyes of hers, staring. He scratches his neck. She settles back down, and sighs. “It’s fine.”
 
Fighting a certain nagging feeling, he asks, “Where do you see us in five years?”
 
She cups her face with her hands, leans them on her knees. “Well, I definitely see us married. And we’ll probably need to get a place together. Both of us are renting, and I’d always wanted a landed property. I don’t really want to raise a family in a condo apartment.”
 
“Family?” He gulps.
 
“Yeah. You mentioned that you wanted one kid, right? But I want two. A set of a boy and a girl would be perfect, don’t you think?”
 
This isn’t the first time they’ve talked about this. Of course, they’ve talked marriage, home, family; they have been together five years now. But somehow, this time, his hands are clammy, and his throat closes up. What’s going on?
 
Without warning, a face flashes in his mind. Her dark raven hair, flying in the wind; her black twinkling eyes, laughing; her tiny mouth, saying, “I do”; her soft hands in his, ones that he once believed he’d hold forever.
 
The microwave beeps, the lasagne is done. But he suddenly can’t breathe. “I—I have to go.”
 
“Go? Go where?”
 
“I don’t know.”
 
He gets up hastily, the blanket sliding off, and knocks over his cup, now cold chocolate pooling and disappearing into the carpet. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
 
Her eyes are wide like saucers, her mouth agape. Her hands stretch out towards him, but instead, he backs away.
 
He grabs the car keys from the bowl in the entryway, flings open the door to reveal the pouring rain.
 
“Zack, wait—”
 
But he hears a different ‘Zack’, another voice, another time, haunting. He shuts the door behind him, immediately getting drenched, and almost slips as he hurriedly takes the steps down towards the car.
 
He makes it into the car, his hair dripping water, stinging his eyes. As he turns on the headlights, he sees her at the door, her face illuminated. The confusion, the hurt, stabs him.
 
But he takes a breath, and starts the engine, backs the car out. He takes one last look at her. I can’t. I’m sorry. He drives away, leaving exhaust and agony in the air.
 
-THE END-