Catch my breath #marquessachallenge

Here’s a thing I wrote for Simply Marquessa’s #fridayfiction #marquessachallenge to write something based on a given song lyric (‘every time I think of you, I always catch my breath‘ from John Waite’s ‘Missing You’). I had no idea where this was going when I wrote the opening sentence, and it turned out a bit dark…

Every time I think of you I always catch my breath

Maria snapped off the radio as the opening bars of the old familiar song made her cheeks burn. She could feel Derek’s eyes, watching her from the table as she carried on stacking the dirty plates into the dishwasher. She didn’t need to turn around to see the look on his face.

“You used to love that song.”

His voice was quiet. That was the thing about Derek that had first appealed to her. Always softly spoken. The back of her neck tingled as she heard him push back his chair and move towards her.

“Years ago. Ancient history” she shrugged, striving to keep her tone light hearted.

“Is it though?”

He was standing behind her now. The fresh clean scent of his shower gel enveloped her, as he stroked her hair. Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear:

“Doesn’t it bring back special memories?”

She took a deep breath, and reached up to clasp his hand, his fingers still entwined in her hair.

“That’s all they are though, memories. I don’t often think about the past.”

He took a step closer. Her hands shook as she clattered a plate into the dishwasher. She could feel his warmth against her back, as he stroked her neck.

“I do” he muttered into her hair. His other arm encircled her waist. Her heart was pounding as he pulled her round to face him, the vicious tug of her hair jerking her head back to look up at his snarling face.

“I think about you and him together. And this song. How often you played it after he disappeared. You’ve never forgotten him, have you?”

“Derek, love, listen…” she began, in the placating tone that had never, ever worked. His fist finished her sentence, leaving a taste of blood on her lips. As she staggered backwards, he turned away, laughing:

“He’s never coming back for you. I made sure he never could.”

 

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