Another heartbreak

The bulbs in the living room were flickering. The shadow of objects they illuminated turned hazy.

The can stand stoically as the froth of the fizzy drink which had he had been drinking dripped by the side and spread forming gargoyle-like spots leaving a smell of sweet malty freshly baked bread. He had picked the 6 pack can in anticipation of her arrival, but his hope of seeing her dwindled with every sip. Like their relationship, the drink was foamy and whizzing at first. Bready and sweet at the tongue tip. Then rolling on to a tinge of orange peel on the middle of his tongue, the one while young he squeezed on fellow kids eyes while playing. Lastly levelling out to a quinine bitter and wooden dry toothpick taste at the back as he swallowed. The bubbles bursting on his tongue dwindled with each sip. The dry finish just like his thoughts burned cleanly and steadily in the quietness of the night like the cigarette he was drawing with each break.

He glanced at his Retro Casio watch, the kind he owned when he was a bell ringer in Primary school. He got a knock off at Deira, but he bragged it was bought at Dubai Mall during his last job assignment.

With a sigh of acceptance, he stubbed the cigarette, logged out of his social media pages, and put the phone on power saver mode. This left the room in total darkness...just the glow of light from his watch, reminding him of his childhood: a young boy, desiring to become a pilot, a doctor, or lawyer. He ended up a lowly paid engineer, adorning thick helmets and lackluster coveralls as he supervised the workers in the project sites. In the back of his mind, he knew she wasn't coming, just the same way some workers chose not to reappear each morning. Yet she was irreplaceable. He also knew his intuition was not at it's best when he least expected her she turned up, this gave him hope.

The plastic pack holding the packs fell apart as he took the second last one, it silently dawned on him, she was not coming after all. The beloved electricity had disappeared on him, no Netflix, no social media, no late work. He would spend another night lonely in the darkness.

Another blackout.