October 13, 2018
Eliska was curled up in the chair next to her bedroom window, beams of moonlight and the warm glow of the lamp nearby casting soft light on the pages of her book. The window was open. The gentle breeze flowing into the room was bitingly chilly against the bare parts of her skin, but she didn't mind the numbness.
She and her father had returned from Georgia just a few hours before, but she wasn't tired, oblivious to how late it was—rather, how early. Her book captured her full attention; she read to drown everything else out. If she wasn't reading, she had to think about how much she missed Jonah.
They had been together for four months. The first month, she could handle herself. She could control her thoughts and desires. She understood the extent of Jonah's career. She knew their time together would not be plentiful, but she was not discouraged.
A month and a half into their relationship was the day they spent in Santa Monica. Everytime she thought of the time when it was just the two of them, she felt content. That day had been the cornerstone of her emotions for months.
Everything after that melted into a blur.
Phone and Facetime calls talking about anything and everything, for any given amounts of time. Sometimes, they were fortunate and got to speak with one another, uninterrupted, for half an hour. Those were the times she felt closest to him, no matter the number of miles that seperated them.
Other times, however, they only had a couple minutes to catch up. They were always interrupted or Eliska would have to board a plane or Jonah would have to sign off for an interview or sound check.
School and travel kept Eliska busy. When she wasn't out of town, she was working at the coffee shop near her house, eyes set on graduating early, therefore needing to earn money for college.
Some days she felt great. She thrived in the experiences and sights of her travels, accomplished school work quickly, but most of all, felt confident in her relationship with Jonah. Some days she would be filled with a sense of unexplainable peace, knowing that she and Jonah would be alright, despite the distance between them.
Other days, however, were bleak. She felt she had no purpose, no motivation to do anything. That was when she and Jonah didn't have time to talk. She couldn't explain the feeling. It was just empty. She still loved him on those days. She loved him unconditionally, but that feeling was still there.
And those were the days that were becoming more frequent.
Her phone began vibrating against the surface of her desk. She got up slowly and crossed the room to pick it up.
"Hey, baby," Jonah said softly when she accepted his Facetime request. He was lying on his back on one of the bunks of the tour bus, his gentle smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.
"Hi, Jo," she answered as she returned to her chair, mirroring his facial expression.
"How are you doing?" he asked her. He didn't mean it as a lame pleasantry; he never did. He authentically desired to hear about how she was feeling, to understand what was going on in her life even though he couldn't be right beside her.
"I'm okay. I got a lot done today. Finally got over myself and took that test I was stressed about."
"Was it as hard as you thought it'd be?" he asked, rubbing one of his eyes. She shrugged.
"I either did really good or I flunked it. No in between."
He shook his head as she moved some hair out of her face. He could tell she was sitting next to her window. She looked gorgeous with abstract arrays of shadows and moonlight playing across her face.
