Gemotions

It was a casual Sunday afternoon, the kind they usually enjoyed together. He was supposed to be helping her with the garden. She heard the familiar ding of his phone. He immediately moved away, taking the call with his back to her.

She stared at the sunflowers, their faces turned towards the sun. A bitterness surged through her. Each missed call, each secretive conversation, seemed to erode the foundations of their relationship. The soil beneath her fingernails felt gritty, the sunlight too bright.

When he returned, he smiled, but the warmth hadn't reached his eyes. She picked up her tools again, a silence between them like a vast, empty field.