Spanish Lullabies
Her first instinct when she was rudely awoken was anger. Furious, she rolled from her bed, stomping to the door to yell at Conner for his noise. He hadn’t returned home by the time she crawled into bed and drifted off into a fitful sleep, and now he had the gall to sing at the top of his voice at this hour of the night. After the day they had. After he left with Caroline. After he left without resolution between them. But as she threw open the door to scream and curse and berate him with only slightly misplaced aggression, Abby was stopped by the oddity of the scene before her.
Conner was sitting against the wall beside her door, singing. Singing. As the shock wore off she recognized the song as one he’d played for her once over tea-on one of their friendlier days. She thought it was much lovelier on the speakers than from Conner’s throat. But the way his eyes lit up when he looked at her, soft and ablaze, brought her fury to a standstill at the doorframe. She smiled, just a little, backed into the room and closed the door behind her.
In the morning she would learn he that he had been piss drunk. That he and Caroline had fought. That he had been out all night on an uncharacteristic bender, “calming his nerves” numb with liquor. In the moment however, she knew none of these things; Abby closed her eyes anyway and let Conner’s broken Spanish lull her back to a proper, restful sleep.
Conner was sitting against the wall beside her door, singing. Singing. As the shock wore off she recognized the song as one he’d played for her once over tea-on one of their friendlier days. She thought it was much lovelier on the speakers than from Conner’s throat. But the way his eyes lit up when he looked at her, soft and ablaze, brought her fury to a standstill at the doorframe. She smiled, just a little, backed into the room and closed the door behind her.
In the morning she would learn he that he had been piss drunk. That he and Caroline had fought. That he had been out all night on an uncharacteristic bender, “calming his nerves” numb with liquor. In the moment however, she knew none of these things; Abby closed her eyes anyway and let Conner’s broken Spanish lull her back to a proper, restful sleep.