The Expansion of the Universe

Thirty-Five | "Spit it out."

Elijah's silence did, in fact, continue to stretch out longer.

So long, that, when the two-week mark of his absence approached, she still had not heard from him. On the day that he was supposed to return home, the only indication that he was safe and alive came when, just after two in the afternoon, she heard his car pull up in the driveway of his condo.

Okay, so, it wasn't a great sign that he hadn't stopped in front of her condo. It indicated that he was still avoiding her.

If Liza was being honest with herself, she was sick of the entire situation. Sure, she knew that maybe he was going through something, but couldn't he at least spare her a call or a quick text of, "I'm alright, doll!"?

Instead, he remained silent, and she couldn't decide if she was angry or scared.

Probably a mixture of the two.

She watched from the window as he climbed out of his car, and good God, he looked awful, as though he hadn't slept since he'd left. His hair was askew, his clothes wrinkled, and his shoulders slumped as he lugged his bag from out of the car and threw it over his shoulder.

He didn't spare her condo a glance as he hurried up the steps and into his own home, and she began to chew on her lower lip worriedly.

What did that mean? It was one thing to ignore her when the only point of contact was a phone, but it was an entirely different level of avoidance when he was ignoring her in-person, too.

Oh, God, she was not meant for this drama. Not anymore.

Twisting around in her spot on the couch, she found Milo's gaze. "What do I do?" She asked.

Unfortunately, Milo still couldn't talk, and he only analyzed her carefully with those dark, soulful eyes of his.

"Yeah," she breathed, picking at her thumbnail, "I don't know, either . . ." She supposed she could wait a little bit longer before going to his condo and at least checking to make sure he didn't have any imminent needs that she could possibly meet.

That seemed like as good a plan as any.

With that thought in mind, she busied herself in reading a cheesy romance novel, though she glanced back up at the clock in the kitchen every five minutes.

She held out for nearly two hours before she threw the book onto the coffee table and gave up.

"We need to go check on him," she told Milo with confidence that she didn't necessarily feel.

If he wanted space, that was fine, but he would need to tell her, if only so he could tell her something.

Really, it seemed like anything would be an improvement over the suffocating silence that he had been delivering her.

Before she could overthink any further, she grabbed Milo's leash and hooked it to his collar, forgoing his vest, since they would only be seeing Elijah. "Come on, buddy," Liza murmured as they slipped out the front door.

Once in front of his doorstep, she hesitated for a moment before knocking with their special knock: Knock, pause, knock, wait, wait, wait, knock.

Nothing.

Liza frowned, uncertain of what to think. Maybe he was tired after his trip, and had fallen asleep shortly after returning? Was he truly avoiding her?

No, why would he do that?

Be realistic. And, realistically, there was no reason for him to avoid her. Except, perhaps, that he was still stewing over whatever news had been given to him during his time away, as she'd first suspected