Telltales – a Short Story

Everybody knew. Her friends, her dad, even her coworkers, who barely knew Sandra personally, immediately put two and two together every time she told them about her love life—which, let’s just say, happened quite often.

She wasn’t shy about it. Smile as bright as the sun. A heart as open as the sky, Sandra effortlessly attracted warm and happy people who’d listen to her rants without any objection. She made it too easy for others to empathize with her.

Thus, it was no surprise that when she recounted the story of her Valentine’s Day, her friend Geenie, particularly, felt Sandra’s haunting despair in her soul.

“He literally came home and went straight to watch TV, didn’t say a word to me about Valentine’s Day. No flowers, no dinner…nothing,” Sandra emphasized with intense astonishment and growing frustration.

“How long you guys been together again?” asked Geenie, eyebrows still raised.

Sandra barely let her finish before blurting, “Five!”

Geenie stood there in shock searching for the right words to say to her friend, but the only word that came out of her mouth was, “Wow.”

It didn’t matter that the occasion meant very little to Geenie; it meant something to her friend, so it upset her, too.

Over the next three months, Sandra would keep complaining about her partner and tell the stories of how he didn’t do anything special for her. Perhaps the passion died — tell-tale signs everyone could see, except, for some reason, Sandra herself.

One day, Geenie felt that maybe all her friend needed was an intervention, so she made Sandra question her own relationship.

“Are you sure this man loves you?” she bluntly asked.

“Oh, he does, for sure. He just…” Sandra looked away as if searching for the most credible justification. “He’s just not very affectionate. And that’s alright, I get it…”

For Sandra, that might’ve been the truth. But for Geenie, it was nothing but denial. She hoped Sandra was right, even though it was obvious. It was a story she’d known all too well.

Her fears were confirmed the day Sandra came up to her with red and puffy eyes.

“You look like you smoked a little too much today,” Geenie teased her.

“Actually, I am just sad, Geenie.”

Hearing Sandra say those words shocked Geenie. Sad? How in the world was that possible, she thought. Not jolly cheerful Sandra… But there she was. Without Geenie asking, Sandra went on to tell her the story.

“We were sitting next to each other on the couch the other day when all of a sudden his phone lit up. And, since it was unlocked, I saw the content. It was his ex. They’ve been talking and hanging out behind my back!”

Geenie gasped.

“What did you tell him?”

“I confronted him about it. Calmly, okay. Not once did I act in a confrontational way, Geenie, but he snapped.”

“That’s a guilty conscience,” Geenie said.

“I expressed myself in the calmest way possible,” Sandra continued. “I poured my heart out, but he was unmoved. I’m talking about stone cold, Geenie.” She fought back tears as she added, “and then I asked him if he even cared about me and my feelings, and you know what he said? F-ck your feelings.”

Once again, Geenie gasped, perhaps at a loss for words. But not more lost than Sandra — she was devastated.

As unbelievable as his callous behavior seemed, everybody knew. He didn’t love Sandra anymore. In fact, he’d stopped loving her a long time ago, but Sandra was still blissfully blind. Whatever was holding them together wasn’t love; it couldn’t be. Not from him, at least. It was Sandra all along who decided to keep the blindfold on.

It saddened Geenie that in the end, Sandra couldn’t even escape her reality.

It is a fact of life that, in romantic relationships, the truth sometimes hurts — be it at the beginning or at the end.