Listen

Chapter 1: The Sound of Flowers

She stared down at the floor of the dining room. Wordless. The only light came from the kitchen nearby. Everywhere else in the apartment was dark. She hugged her knees tight, but no tears came. It was all numb within. Just cold. Like the tiled floor. Like her skin. There was a faint smell of blood but it wasn't hers. It came from her boyfriend's knuckles.

The shattered pieces of the ceramic plate was ingrained into her mind, and she wondered.

How couldn't I have seen it coming?

But deep down she knew she saw it. The relationship was broken from the beginning.

Well...

Relationships.

"VICTORIA!"

Her chin snapped up at the unforgiving, sudden sound and she glared at the eyes she once loved and treasured.

"DID YOU EVEN FUCKING LISTEN TO ME?"

She exhaled harshly through flared nostrils. Her hands were shaking yet she chose not to show it to him. She wasn't going to show any sign of weakness at that point. Her eyes were tearing up, but she couldn't let them fall. Not for this asshole. She could have said these words years ago, a decade even, but only now did she ever find the courage to; "You know what? I'm not."

It took her boyfriend a second to recover from that stun, but he quickly regained his wrathful demeanour. Fists clenched, jaw locked, eyebrows knitted as he calculated the girl opposite to him on the other end of the table.

She felt the fire slowly growing in her chest, and she was going to use it. And use it well. "YOU have never listened to me when I keep telling you about anything, or telling you to even give half a SHIT about me. Once I was yours, the trying stopped. The romance was gone all just because you thought, now that you had me, it was time to stop trying because I'm not gonna leave anyway according to your self-centred, inconsiderate lack of wit."

Victoria stood from her foetal position on the floor to say more, but he responded, "Well fuck, Vic. I'm sorry that I can't treat you like a princess. I'm sorry we can't be all 'lovey-dovey' every time. I'm sorry I was busy with work and earning money and all this shit, all because you can't find a fucking job."

"You should know by now how difficult that fucking is, Levi. It's not that easy finding a job when you've ran away from home just before you could graduate. And I only just lost my job three months ago." Victoria grabbed the edge of the dining table to steel herself. She was starting to hyperventilate. But she disguised it as anger. No weakness now, dammit.

He exhaled and held the bridge of his nose. He shook his head. "You're still an idiot."

Victoria slammed her fist on the dining table, but the sleeve of her dressing robe was long enough to have muffled the noise. "For fuck's sake! Will you stop calling me that? That's incredibly degrading, and I don't care anymore if you do it in jest, to show affection, or whatever. Just stop." She let her hand fall back to her side. "It's annoying."

Levi stepped around the side of the dining table opposite to her. His movements were slow, yet hostile. Like a lion ready to pounce on its prey. He walked towards her. "You're the one who won't stop constantly messaging me to ask how I was, what is happening where I am, asking if I'm okay when I don't need a second mother!"

Victoria glanced at his closed fist, the one with the bloodied knuckles. She returned her stare towards his face. "I just messaged you only three times during your whole shift. IT'S CALLED CARING, FUCKHEAD." She stepped away from him and into the hallway, where she could still look at him while the corner of the wall still separated them. Anything to be away from him right now.