Without you

It is said that “People are most alive when they are in love” but for Nick and Claire, their love story had left them lackadaisical. 

Nick had met Claire in a coffee shop, a long time ago. They were both heading to work and stopped by to grab a coffee but Claire was rather clumsy because she was late. She got her coffee and turned to leave when she bumped into Nick who was the next in line and spilled coffee all over him.

“Oh my God! Oh my God!! I’m so sorry.” She apologized.

“No, it’s fine.” He bent and assisted in picking up her things.

“Thank you.” She said and walked away.

Nick walked out of the shop. “You’re still here?”

“I…I just couldn’t leave like that after getting you stained.” Claire stuttered.

“No, it’s fine. I have an extra shirt in my car.”

“You do?” 

“Yes.”

“I…I’m sorry, once again.” Claire said and left.

She got to work and like every other day, she got yelled at for arriving late and got a stack of files and tons of assignments to do.

“Whoof!” Claire slumped in her chair. “Another day filled with nonsense.”

“Why are you late?” Her friend- Kate whose desk was opposite hers, asked.

Claire sighed. “I…Never mind, it’s just the same things that happen every day.”

Right. Every day for Claire always seemed the same. She had to go from work, back home, sometimes to the club and the mall. Her life seemed to be going around in circles with no fun in it.

Her day ended, leaving her exhausted and sleepy like it always had. She picked up her things, the important files she needed to work on and drove away. At least, she was away from her arrogant boss and could breathe. 

She was driving and her phone rang so she clumsily tried to reach it when she slammed into someone’s car. She got out of the car, her eyes filled with terror.

“Oh goodness! I just murdered…!” She yelled, seeing the driver's head was against the steering wheel.

The driver got out of the car. “It’s fine, I’m…” He looked up at her.

“You!” They both exclaimed.

“The coffee shop.” There was a pause and then laughter.

“You’re always so clumsy, aren’t you?” He laughed.

“I…I’m so sorry.” She paused to think. “Always clumsy? What do you mean? We’ve only bumped twice.”

“Forget it.” He smiled. “I’m Nick.”

“I…Oh my God! Look at your car, I’ve damaged it.” 

He chuckled. “It’s just a small scratch.”

“I…” She walked back to her car and brought a card. “Here, Call me later and we’d discuss the bill for your car’s repair.”

“There’s no…” He cut himself off. “Sure.”

They went their separate ways afterwards and didn’t see or hear from eachother for days until Nick called.

“Hello beautiful.”

“Good morning.” Her phone was between her ear and her shoulder as she was preparing to leave for work. “Who…?”

“Nick. That day at the coffee shop. Do you…?”

“Yes, I do.” Claire sighed. “You’ve called to bill me, right?”

“Forget it. Let’s meet this afternoon or evening whichever suits you.” Nick said.

“Evening?”

“Evening it is then, Claire.”

“You already know my name?”

“Come on. It’s written on your card.”

“Ohhhh.” She laughed. “I totally forgot I gave you that.”

                               *

Nick and Claire met often, got to know eachother, went on dates, enjoyed each other’s company and fell in love swiftly. It happened so fast that they didn’t realize when they started making out and smashing.

Claire became less clumsy, she found someone she genuinely loved. She had always hated everything else, her boss, her daily routine and even her life. She had no plan for anything and became too clumsy to even do anything right.

Nick had always been gentle and soft but with Claire, he’d never seen or met anyone like her and as time passed, he became more attached to her that he asked her to move in with him. She did but didn’t rent out her apartment. She went there on weekends or when she had a fight with Nick. 

Their love story became different. They started having pointless arguments and meaningless fights over things like Claire coming late or Nick not picking his calls. Things became worse over time as Nick’s love for Claire grew into an obsession. He didn’t want guys around her, talking to her or even staring at her.

“What’s your problem, Nick?” She asked him one day.

“Don’t you dare ask me that.”

“Oh yeah? But you dare to behave unruly around people who come close to me.” She hissed.

“That’s because I love you.”

“What do you think love is?” She asked. “You think love is just about living together, sharing a bed and romance?”

“No, I…” He moved close to her. “That’s not…”

“Don’t touch me!”

“But other men can?”

“Nicholas!” She slapped him hard across the face. “If you don’t trust me then I’m afraid this isn’t love and I don’t want to be stuck up in a relationship that isn’t worth my time and energy.”

She turned to leave when he grabbed her arm, pinned her against the wall and devoured her lips. Soon they slept together and found themselves back to where they started. The root cause of their toxic relationship. For them, sleeping together seemed to solve the problem whether they had an argument, physical combats with eachother or anything else. 

They both weren’t comfortable with the way their relationship turned out but didn’t put enough effort into changing things. 

Nick returned home one evening, furious because he had just been fired from work. He looked around the house for Claire and eventually found her in the kitchen preparing dinner.

He grabbed her hand. “Come with me.”

“Where to?”

“The bedroom.”

“What for?”

“Stop asking stupid questions! Can’t you see I’m angry and need sex right now?”

She yanked her hand away from him. “So, you think sex is the solution?”

“What else could calm me down?”

“Can’t you think of something else rather than having sex all the time?” Claire asked.

He grabbed her hand again. “No, I can’t. Now, come with me!”

She yanked his hand away and slapped him hard. “I’m going nowhere. You can’t keep using me as a sex tool and get away with it!”

He hit her and they both started hitting eachother and struggling so as not to be hit by the other. They found themselves on the floor and throwing punches at eachother with Claire’s punches seemingly weak but she managed to kick him hard in the groin.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” He yelped in pain. She was about to walk away when she saw him clutching where she kicked him, with his face red as he felt pain.

Claire gave him a hand, helped him up and got him to have his bath. Even as she kicked him in anger, her emotions and feelings for him got in the way as she couldn't bear to see him in pain.

“Thank you.” He said as she applied ointment to his body. She also had wounds from the fight but hers were minor compared to his.

“You’re welcome.” Claire sighed. “So are you still angry?”

“No, I’m cool.” He smiled.

“We didn’t have sex and you’re calm now which means you don’t need to have…”

“No! I don’t want to talk about it…”

“Why? Because I’m reminding you of why you got angry in the first place? She asked.

“It’s not about why I’m angry, it’s just about…”

“Let's take a break.”

“What?”

“Let’s take a break, Nick.”

“Why…?”

“It's for the best.”

“I actually got fired today and you’re leaving me?”

“It’d have been better if you actually spoke about what was bothering you rather than trying to vent it out on my body.”

“I’m sorry.” Nick said, hoping it’d make her stay.

“It’s too late for that now. Let’s take a break and find out what we actually want for ourselves.”

“Don’t do this to me.”

“We’re not breaking up, Nick. Just taking a break.” Claire got up. “I’m done here.”

She picked up a few things, her car key and just like that, Nick watched his girlfriend walk away from him for God-knows how long.

                                    *

TWO MONTHS LATER…

It’d been two months since Nick and Claire took a relationship break. Although they constantly think of and yearn for eachother, they didn't speak or meet up. They both did things they would never do normally, they sometimes seemed lost and lethargic because they couldn’t do without eachother but since they had the support of their friends, their lives went smoothly even when they were apart.

Nick has mostly been doing some thinking and talking to his friends who gave quality advice. Claire has also been thinking and willing to make changes in the important parts of her life, organizing her life at home, work and with friends and soon she impressed her boss.

She’d been doing different things, exploring places and meeting different people. Recently, she got invited to a party and since she’s been trying to take her mind off Nick, she honored the invitation. 

“Hey.” She hugged the friend who hosted the party as soon as she arrived.

“Thanks for coming.” 

“My pleasure.” Claire smiled and took a seat beside Kate. “You didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“We are both her friends so why wouldn’t I?” 

“Whatever.” Claire signaled to the bar man. “A drink please.”

Claire and Kate spoke for a while before their drinks were brought to them.

Claire sipped the drink slowly as she watched and listened to Kate. Just as Claire gulped the last of her drink, someone tapped her and as she turned around, she saw Nick.

“Oof!” She started coughing. 

“Are you okay, Claire?” Nick asked as Kate patted her back.

“Go away!” Claire yelled, her eyes became moist from coughing hard.

“Are we enemies now?”

“You made me choke.” Claire adjusted herself and turned to face him. “W-What are you…?”

She couldn’t get the words out of her mouth. Sitting right there, with Nick in front of her made her uncomfortable. He was more handsome, new and better than he was two months ago. Her heart started fluttering. 

“I was also invited for the party.” He smiled.

She couldn’t sit there for a moment longer. His presence was killing her. 

“Well, I was just about to leave.” She grabbed her purse and smiled at Kate. “See you, Kate.”

She turned to leave when he grabbed her arm. “Don’t leave yet, please.” His eyes expressed pain as he knew he was going to lose her again. It wasn’t easy for him to be without her in those two months and he wasn’t going to let her leave again.

“I…I…” She looked into his eyes and looked away immediately. “I c-can’t be here.”

She gently took his hand off hers and walked away.

Nick sighed sadly.

“Are you just going to sigh?” Kate asked. 

“Come on, Man. Go after her!” One of his friends said.

“She doesn’t want me to. She’s…” Tears brewed up in his eyes.

“She does! She loves you a lot, can’t you see that?” Kate yelled.

“Really?”

“Are you going to be oblivious to that now?” Another of his friends asked.

“Or rather, he is feigning oblivion.”

Nick ran out of the party and looked through the parking lot.

“Looking for me?” 

He turned around to see Claire and hugged her tightly.

“I…I’m sorry.” He tore apart.

“Kate told me you wanted to see me.” 

“Yes. I…I…”

“Do you miss us?” Claire asked.

“I miss you, Claire.” Nick sighed. “I wish I could say I miss us and what we had but you obviously don’t and…”

Claire grabbed his face and kissed him. “Why wouldn’t I miss what we had?”

“Don’t stop, please don’t.” He grabbed her face and they started kissing hungrily in the parking lot.

“I missed you a lot, Claire! I thought you actually left me.”

“No, stupid. We took a goddamn break.” Claire giggled.

“I’m so sorry for what happened between us, I promise you I’m a changed man.”

“I’m sorry too, Nick.”

They hugged eachother and continued kissing again. Nick lifted her and continued kissing but they weren’t getting enough of eachother. 

Claire jumped down. “Someone’s coming.”

“So what? I don’t care about anyone when I’m doing anything as long as I’m always with you.” 

They went home afterwards and continued but didn’t have sex, instead they cuddled up in their bed and spoke at length about their lives. Soon, things changed between them and their relationship started going smoothly.