Betrayal

He found her walking the beach aimlessly, her steps somewhere between a waltz and a ballet. The waves lapped at her ankles, catching at her dress and slapping against her calves. The soft blue jersey hugged the gentle curves of her body.
He fell in step beside her.

“Did he leave, then?”

“They always do” She tilted her head to give him arch look. “I’d ask you why if I didn’t already know the answer.” She sighed. “It’s an old story.”

He turned his gray eyes out to sea.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

His jaw tightened. “Doubtful.”

“Let me try?”

“Alright,” he replied.

She danced ahead of him, criss-crossing her steps as she hummed an oriental melody.

“You’re thinking… you wonder how they do it. How they just leave like it doesn’t matter.” She lifted her gaze, the well practiced complacency slipping for only a moment.

He bit his lip. Her pain was more than he wanted to bear.
“If they saw what I saw-”

She shook her head. “They see the same things.” She smiles with her lips only. “They call me beautiful, lovely, pretty, hot… they have so many names for me. But do you know what I have never been called?”

She stood completely still, the movement gone from her graceful limbs. She was quiet for so long that he hesitantly took several steps in her direction. The careful no-touch rule that she cultivated went to pieces as he pulled her into his arms.

She spoke, her words lost to the wind. “They never say my name.”