Marcus
Damn Natalie…
Why does she have to keep calling?
Why does she feel the need to wedge a crack in my meticulously crafted life? I am finally beginning to understand what a true family feels like, the warmth, the connection, and now…
I thought cutting ties would mean peace, but the past has a way of bleeding through the cracks no matter how tightly you try to seal them. Every ring of her phone call is like a reminder of old wounds, things I've buried deep but never truly escaped.
She doesn't get it. She never did.
I walk to the studio, still fuming.
The only way to shake these thoughts is work, so I lose myself in the monotony—charging batteries, stacking props, rearranging the gels. I check the lighting on the latest setup and snap a series of pointless test shots just to hear the camera shutter break the silence.
But every time the phone in my pocket vibrates, I see that name again.
NATALIE (4)
Eventually I give in. I open the thread and read, expecting an emergency.
