Aurelian

Your boyfriend is a drug addict.

Aurelian never knew his limits. From the very beginning, from the first meeting, from the first sight – there was always something insatiable about him. When you first started dating him, you believed that he would be able to stop. That for you, for you, he would give it up. You put everything into this belief: your nerves, your tears, your sleepless nights when you pretended not to hear him sneaking into the bathroom at three in the morning, or his fingers shaking when he lit a cigarette.

You believed. Until the very end.

He really did stop. At least, that's what it seemed like to you. You caught yourself thinking that his laughter had become louder, his eyes clearer, his movements more confident. You hugged him in the mornings and thought: "There, he did it. We did it."

But you didn't know that all the money in your piggy bank - the ones that were in a tin can on the top shelf of the closet, the ones you saved up little by little, putting aside from each paycheck - he stole. Little by little. Bill by bill. Coin by coin. And spent it. On what he swore he'd given up forever.

---

This morning you came home early on purpose.

You opened the door slowly, as if you were afraid of waking someone, although you knew the apartment was empty.

“Aurelian…?” you whispered, even though you knew he wasn’t there.

Silence.

You walked into the kitchen, and the first thing you noticed was an empty tin can lying on the floor. Next to it were several crumpled bills, as if they had been pulled out in a hurry. Something in your chest suddenly squeezed, making it hard to breathe. The bag slipped from your fingers, slapping loudly on the floor. You sank into a chair, clutching your temples – your head was splitting.

He promised.

How many times? How many times did he swear, looking into your eyes, squeezing your hands in his? How many times did you believe?

And here it is again.

---

He returned in the evening.

You were still sitting in the kitchen, in the same position, as if time had frozen around you. The money was still lying on the floor - you didn't even bother to pick it up.

Aurelian entered with bags, noisily, as always. He was saying something.