“I don’t wanna talk about it, at least not tonight!”
Mark’s voice cut through the cab ride like a whip as he yanked off the Dracula mask, tossing it onto the backseat floor.
It was Halloween Eve, the 12th of October.
The park had been a riot of color: orange and purple lights strung between bare trees, children darting past in tiny vampire capes and fairy wings, the smell of cotton candy hanging sweetly in the air.
She had been laughing not long ago. Now, in the hallway, it felt like it belonged to someone else.
“I… I…” Vanessa said, while wiping the smudged makeup from her face with trembling fingers. “I just… didn’t mean—”
“Don’t. Just drop it,” He glared at her for a moment, then walked quickly toward the living room while his Dracula costume swishes with every step he. Vanessa followed him slowly, unsure. The excitement from the fair was gone.They had been together a year.
A year of excitement, weekend visits, and texts during work. Vanessa had fallen hard, ignoring the small red flags. She had begun, a few months back, asking about his family, hinting, gently probing, letting the conversation drift toward the idea of marriage. Every time, Mark had dismissed it, laughed it off, or changed the subject.
And she had let it go, because love, she reminded herself, sometimes meant patience.
But tonight…
Tonight felt different.
Vanessa followed him into the living room, where he slumped onto the couch. His hand went to his hair, a sharp sigh escaping him. “Mark… I thought maybe…” she murmured.
“I said, not tonight!”
His voice was loud now, echoing off the walls in a way that made Vanessa wince.
“Why do you always have to push this?”
“I’m not pushing,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I was just… asking…”
“Stop. Just stop.”
His eyes hardened, and Vanessa froze. Impatient, frustrated, distant — it wasn’t the Mark she knew.
She had loved him completely, trusted him, believed in him. Now she stood there, holding back tears, trying to understand his anger.
“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Mark turned away, rubbing his forehead, muttering under his breath. Vanessa studied him, the way he held himself. This was the man she had loved, the one who used to make her feel safe. How had it come to this?
“You know I didn’t mean anything by it,” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “I just… I’ve been curious, that’s all. About your family… about us.”
Mark flinched at the word us, as if it had burned him.
“Curious?” he repeated, his voice flat now, cold. “You want to talk about this again? Seriously?”
Vanessa swallowed hard.
She had tried before. Every gentle mention of meeting his family, of glimpsing the life he rarely let her into, had been brushed off. But tonight’s was different, There was anger in his voice. Sharper than before. Mark pressed his lips hard while looking away.
Vanessa picked up a few things and tried to focus on something normal, just to feel a little calmer
But her eyes kept darting back to him, hoping hoping for the man she loved to return.
The fair felt far away now. The laughter, the lightness, the closeness gone. Vanessa stayed quiet, her mind twisting with what had just happened.
She stood, walking toward the kitchen. She busied herself with the kettle, trying to focus on the rhythmic clinking of the cups and the hiss of the boiling water.
He'll definitely come back to apologize as he always does. They've had issues several times and mark was known to be loving and emotional.
She returned from the kitchen, hoping to see him in the living room.
He wasn’t there.
“Mark?” she whispered.
The apartment was empty.
Her phone vibrated beside her. She grabbed the phone, both nervous and hopeful. She called him, but it went straight to voicemail. She stared at the screen for a moment, unsure if she should leave a message.
she quickly typed:
"Where did you go?"
Her finger hovered over send, then she pressed it.
The little ticks appeared blue immediately: seen 10:23 PM.
But there was no reply from him. This wasn’t like him. He had never been this distant and hard. She stared at the screen, waiting for a reply but nothing.
She tried to reason with herself, maybe he had stepped out or was tired. The safety she felt around him had vanished. She held the phone for a moment, then let it go, watching the fading colors of the fair linger in her thoughts.
For the first time, she questioned if all the love she had could ever be enough.