Page 103 of Every Shattered Note
If you want my past, it’s carved in the scars he gave.
Feast, tear, swallow, blame?—
Prometheus with gasoline in his veins.
It’s rough.Unfinished.But it’s mine.No one else’s hands have touched it.No one’s trimmed the edges to make it easier to swallow.
I drop the pen, stare at the scrawl until the words start to blur, then stand.Lolita’s still buzzing faintly from that last chord.I cross to the computer again, the glow of the monitor stinging my eyes.
Still no reply.
My inbox?Forty-seven unread files.
Every one of them is a landmine.Journalists.Lawyers.Leeches dressed in concern.I click to open the top message.
From:[email protected]
Subject: Statement Approval Needed.
“Dexter, we need your signature before two.Please review the attached language.Avoid additional public comments until further notice.”
Fuck that.We’ll look at it tomorrow.
The next one’s from someone at the label.Marketing.Something about damage control, cross-promotion, and a quote request forSpin.
Delete.
Another one—this one bolder.
From:[email protected]
Subject: You Owe Us an Explanation.
“You can’t stay silent forever, Dex.It looks like guilt.Call me back.”
I clickdelete so hard the computer stutters.I’m not giving them anything else.Not today and maybe never.A notification blinks in the corner of the screen.
ECHOZONE— Private Message: Opened.
I freeze.
She saw it.
No reply yet,but that small notification punches straight through my chest like she’s watching me watch her.Aly’s awake.Somewhere, on the other side of this static-lit night, she’s reading what I wrote.Maybe in her apartment.Yeah, definitely there.
I stare at the screen like if I blink, I’ll miss her.Like she’s right there behind the glass, deciding if I’m worth even this.If I’ve already drained every ounce of grace she had left for me.
And maybe I have.
The last thing I sent wasn’t some grand, bleeding declaration.Just:
I shouldn’t have leftlike that.I’m sorry.
No fireworks.No promises I can’t keep.Just the truth I should’ve said to her face.
A minute drags by.Then another.My pulse keeps time.
Then her reply comes through.
