A Distant Melody

Ellie had never been to this part of town before. It wasn’t that it was particularly far from her usual haunts, but there was something about the quiet streets and the absence of familiar faces that had drawn her in. She liked places where no one would recognize her. Today, more than ever, she needed to feel invisible.

The small café, tucked between an old bookstore and a vintage clothing shop, seemed like the perfect place to disappear. With its dim lighting and eclectic decor, it felt worlds away from the bustling city just a few blocks over. The rain drummed softly against the windowpanes, a soothing backdrop as she sat alone in a corner booth, nursing a cup of tea that had long gone cold.

Ellie pulled her jacket tighter around herself, though the room was warm. It wasn’t the chill of the café she was trying to escape — it was the creeping sense of anxiety that had followed her for months now, ever since she’d left her old life behind. A life she could never go back to.

As she gazed out the window, watching raindrops race each other down the glass, the door chimed. Ellie didn’t look up. She was too lost in her thoughts, her mind spiraling around what had brought her to this point — the choices, the mistakes, the secrets.

“Is this seat taken?”

The voice startled her, soft but direct. Ellie blinked and looked up, her heart skipping a beat. Standing before her was a man, mid-thirties maybe, with dark, tousled hair and an easy smile. His clothes were damp from the rain, his jacket speckled with droplets.

“No,” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. She hadn’t expected company, but there was something about the man’s presence that was hard to refuse.

“Thanks,” he said, sliding into the seat across from her. He placed a battered umbrella on the floor beside him and shook out his coat, sending a few stray raindrops onto the table.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Ellie shifted in her seat, unsure why she hadn’t objected. She didn’t want company — at least, she thought she didn’t. Yet here he was, this stranger, disrupting her solitude without a second thought.

“Cold night, isn’t it?” the man said, breaking the silence.

Ellie nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

He smiled again, but this time, there was something behind it, something that made her uneasy. His gaze lingered on her just a moment too long, as if he were sizing her up, trying to figure her out. She averted her eyes, staring down at her hands, which were clasped tightly around her mug.

“I’m Lucas,” he said, extending a hand across the table.

After a brief hesitation, Ellie took it. His grip was firm but not overpowering, his skin warm despite the chill outside. “Ellie,” she replied, her voice still subdued.

“Nice to meet you, Ellie,” Lucas said, leaning back in his seat. He studied her for a moment, as though he were waiting for her to say something more, but Ellie remained quiet. She didn’t want to engage in small talk. She didn’t want to explain why she was sitting alone in a half-empty café on a rainy night, miles from home. But Lucas didn’t seem to need an explanation. He was comfortable in the silence, his gaze wandering around the café as if he were taking it all in.

For a while, they sat there in companionable quiet, the rain outside growing heavier, the café’s warm lights casting long shadows on the walls. Ellie began to relax, letting the sound of the storm and the soft clinks of dishes from the counter ease her nerves. Maybe, she thought, this wasn’t so bad. Lucas seemed nice enough, and there was no harm in sharing a table with a stranger.

“So, Ellie,” Lucas said after a long pause, his tone casual, “what brings you here?”

The question, though innocent enough, sent a jolt of anxiety through her. Ellie shifted uncomfortably, her fingers tightening around her mug again. “Just… needed a break,” she said vaguely, hoping he wouldn’t press for details.

Lucas raised an eyebrow but didn’t push. Instead, he nodded, as if her answer made perfect sense. “We all need that sometimes,” he said. “A break from the world.”

Ellie managed a small smile. “Yeah.”

There was another stretch of silence before Lucas spoke again, this time more quietly. “Are you running?”

The question hung in the air, heavy and unspoken until now. Ellie’s heart thudded in her chest. She tried to laugh, but it came out awkward and forced. “Running? From what?”

Lucas didn’t answer right away. He simply watched her, his eyes calm but searching, like he already knew the truth but was waiting for her to admit it.

“We all run from something, Ellie,” he said softly. “Some of us just run longer than others.”

Ellie felt the walls closing in, the suffocating weight of her secret pressing down on her. She had been running for so long — from her past, from the mistakes she’d made, from the consequences that were bound to catch up with her eventually. She thought she could escape, could start over in a new place where no one knew her name. But maybe she had been wrong. Maybe running wasn’t enough.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice strained.

Lucas’s smile faded, replaced by something more serious, more knowing. “You don’t have to tell me,” he said quietly. “But I can see it in your eyes. You’re not just here for a break. You’re hiding.”

Ellie’s breath caught in her throat. How could he know? How could this stranger, this man she’d only just met, see through her so easily?

“I don’t—” she started, but Lucas held up a hand.

“It’s okay,” he said gently. “You don’t have to explain. We all have our reasons.”

Ellie stared at him, her mind racing. She wanted to get up, to leave, to put as much distance between herself and this man as possible. But something in his voice, in the way he spoke, kept her rooted to the spot.

“You don’t know anything about me,” she said, more defensively than she intended.

Lucas met her gaze, his eyes unwavering. “Maybe not. But I’ve been where you are. And I know what it feels like to be running.”

Ellie’s throat tightened, her mind spinning with questions she wasn’t ready to ask. Who was this man? What did he know? And why did she feel like he understood her better than anyone else had in months?

“I don’t have a choice,” she whispered, more to herself than to him.

Lucas leaned forward, his voice barely audible over the sound of the rain. “There’s always a choice, Ellie. You just have to decide whether you want to keep running or if it’s time to stop.”

The weight of his words settled over her like a heavy blanket. For the first time in months, Ellie felt exposed, vulnerable. She had spent so long building walls, hiding behind a facade of normalcy, pretending everything was fine when, in truth, it was far from it. And here, in this quiet café, a stranger had torn down those walls with just a few words.

“I can’t stop,” she said, her voice trembling. “Not now.”

Lucas’s eyes softened. “Maybe you don’t have to. But running forever… that’s not living, Ellie. That’s just surviving.”

Ellie looked away, unable to meet his gaze. He was right, of course. She knew that. But stopping meant facing the truth, and the truth was something she wasn’t ready to confront.

She stood abruptly, grabbing her coat. “I need to go,” she said, her voice tight.

Lucas didn’t try to stop her. He simply nodded, his expression unreadable. “Take care of yourself, Ellie.”

She hesitated for a moment, then turned and hurried toward the door. As she stepped out into the cold, damp air, the rain splashing against her skin, she felt a surge of panic. She had been so careful, so sure that no one could see through her, that her secret was safe. But now, everything felt fragile, like a house of cards waiting to collapse.

Ellie pulled her jacket tighter around herself and quickened her pace, her mind racing with thoughts she couldn’t escape. She needed to disappear again, needed to find somewhere new, somewhere where no one would know her or ask questions. But even as she walked away from the café, she couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe Lucas was right.

Maybe it was time to stop running.