David sat on the couch after work, scrolling on his phone and sipping an energy drink to keep his heavy lids from closing. From the other end of the apartment, a soft, feminine voice called to him, "David, can you come up here for a minute?"
His eyes closed, and his free hand balled into a fist. Taking a deep breath, he replied in a strained voice, "One sec!"
David opened the door to find his girlfriend, Celeste, sitting on the bed. Her eyes looked hollow like someone who had bad news. They flicked up at his then looked away. "Have a seat," she said, patting the bed.
David sat on the corner with his back turned. "K, I'm sitting. What's up?"
"Do you...are you happy?"
"What?" he replied. "I-"
"Are you happy with our relationship?" she asked. David was silent, his eyes fixed to his feet. "I'm asking because...well, I'm not. I don't think you are either," she continued. "I don't think we've been happy for a while now. David ground his bottom lip into his teeth and let out a sigh. "Just tell me," she said calmly. "Don't try to protect my feelings."
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Looking over his shoulder, he looked into her eyes, those deep pools of blue he'd fallen for almost a year ago. "I was...for a while," he replied. "Not so much lately."
Celeste nodded, "I've felt that.
"It feels like," David hesitated, "we can't seem to communicate anymore without turning it into some kind of fight." He shifted his weight and turned to sit next to her on the bed. "Through all the built up resentment, it makes me wonder...are we actually good at anything in this relat-"
"Sex," Celeste interrupted. "The sex is great, it's just everything else that sucks," she chuckled.
David laughed, taken off guard. "Yeah, I guess we know each other's bodies better than...well each other as people. Does that make sense?"
Celeste nodded with a slight grin, "I guess it takes more than that to make a relationship work. Who knew?"
More laughter escaped David's lips. Celeste joined in. Soon enough, the ominous silence returned. "So, what do we do now?" asked David.
"I guess...we should call it quits," she replied. "There's no point in staying in a relationship that doesn't make us happy. We just aren't...compatible that way, I guess."
Staring off into space, David nodded. "I guess we should." He looked at her and smiled slightly. Celeste smiled back. "You know," he continued, "you had a point. You did say we were good at, uh, it." Celeste's shoulders bobbed with a soft chuckle. She bit her lip and looked at him. "No reason we can't do that first," he said.
Celeste stood and bent over the mattress, placing her elbows down on the blankets, arching her back. She looked at him over her shoulder, "You mean...right here?"
Smiling, David stood. "Just one more time."