Lonely

Lucas's eyes fluttered open, the silence of the room shattered only by the insistent chirp of a bird outside his window. He lay there for a moment, blinking blearily, before a jolt of unwelcome awareness shot through him. Amy. Had she replied?

He fumbled for his phone on the nightstand, the harsh white screen momentarily blinding in the dim room. Airplane mode mocked him from the corner of the display, a glaring reminder of his short-lived resolve.

Without dwelling on it, he deactivated it, a tense anticipation settling in his gut as the phone came back to life.

He went to his inbox and a flicker of disappointment washed over him when he saw there was no new message and the last message there was his response the previous night.

His thumb swiped open his inbox, and his heart sank like a stone in water as he saw the same messages from yesterday. No new email, just his carefully crafted response hanging there, unanswered.