Can I Have This Dance?

Elliot stirred in bed beside Tara, his toned chest exposed. She looked at the man she used to love but now, she wasn't feeling the love she felt for him, she was tired. Tara had fallen out of love.

Elliot Cyrus and Tara Lawrence met in college four years ago and they hit it off immediately, she knew his family, friends, secrets, everything. They were young, in love and inseparable but over time she got bored, Elliot didn't really do things to make her unhappy, he was the sweetest and the most romantic man she knew, everyone who knew about them was jealous and wanted to have they had. She always thought he was too good to be true, in fact, he always apologized even when she was wrong but now Tara couldn't really explain why she didn't want him anymore, admitting it to herself was hard, but telling him would be harder.

"Good morning" Elliot smiled, his voice was groggy. He reached for her hair and touched it affectionately before sitting up and yawning. "What time is it?"

"8:37" she replied not making eye contact.

"Oh shit, I'm going to be late." Elliot jumped out of bed and put both hands on his head, "babe I need to hop in the shower quickly, I'll be out soon."

Tara still in bed, didn't say anything, she just looked at him with her usual 'we have to talk' look, and he got it immediately but time was going and he had to attend a board meeting.

"Okay, I'm guessing something is wrong but I'm sorry we'll talk about it when I get back." With that, he hurried along but Tara couldn't wait for later.

"I'm leaving for London this weekend." She blurted, eyes closed.

He stopped in his tracks and let out a sigh of relief, for a moment he was worried she had bad news. Turning to face her, he said.

"Um, okay but you could have told me sooner. Is it for work? How long will you be gone? What time is–"

This time she got up from the bed and stood in front of him.

"I'm not coming back Elliot, I'm leaving you."

Elliot stumbled and held on to the bathroom door frame for support. He and Tara have had disagreements in the past but she had never talked about leaving. He tried to think back if they had fought but nothing was coming to him.

"Tara I don't understand. What do you mean you're leaving me?"

"I'm sorry but I don't want to be with you anymore." She moved closer to him, "I'm tired of us."

"You think this is the best way to tell me? How can you tell someone who you've spent close to five years with you're leaving so casually." He was angry. "You're tired of us? Come on Tara."

His voice was getting loud. She wasn't expecting this reaction. She knew he won't take it lying down but she didn't think he'd raise his voice.

"Calm down Elliot, I didn't just decide this overnight and trust me it wasn't an easy decision." She attempted to touch him but he pushed her away.

"Did you ever even love me?" This time he sounded broken.

She didn't answer, she had loved Elliot a lot, but there was no point telling him that.

"Where did things go wrong?" He asked.

She couldn't answer, she too didn't know when things began to change.

"Get out." He pointed to the door.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered

"Get the hell out of my house Tara." This time he opened it.

Tara put on her clothes, looked at him one last time and left. She was thankful, that he didn't cry or beg because that would have made things harder for her. She was thankful for his anger.

After Tara left that morning, Elliot crashed onto the bedroom floor and wept, the love of his life was gone. He never made it to the bathroom or the board meeting, he stayed in, wallowing in pain and drinking the sorrow away. He got calls from his friends, his assistant, his mother and sisters and even his father but he didn't attempt to answer them or call back. He was waiting for one phone call from one person but he didn't get that.

Elliot spent the day drinking and stalking Tara's social media, she didn't seem like someone who went through a break-up. But then, he was the one who went through a break-up, and she was the one who put him through it.

~~~~~

In the evening of the same day, Elliot's best friend Toby showed up at his door. Toby was the only person he told about Tara and being the person that he was, Toby dropped everything he was doing and appeared at his best friend's house.

"Dude, did you drink?" Toby pinched his nose trying to prevent the strong smell of alcohol from filling his nostrils. Elliot wasn't a fan of drinking, not that he couldn't hold his alcohol but he just never drank more than three glasses of wine because Tara didn't think it was cool. Looking at his best friend in disbelief, with one bottle of wine almost empty, Toby needed to get Elliot out of the house.

"Let's go out," Toby said.

"I don't want to go anywhere."

"Shut up. I'm giving you thirty minutes to get ready."

Elliot walked to the bathroom and washed his face, he brushed his teeth and combed his hair. He sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Hurry up!" Toby called from the living room.

He appeared from the bathroom and smiled lightly. "I'm ready."

The best friends set off, with no particular destination, and after thinking and thinking, the club was where they found themselves. Elliot didn't want to, his girlfriend of four years had just dumped him, he couldn't go clubbing.

Toby smacked his head playfully and told him "partying is the best way to get over a break-up"

"I beg to differ." He replied but Toby didn't care. He pulled Elliot in.

Buzzing with people, loud music and drinks, Elliot and Toby pushed their way through the crowd to find the VIP section, but they didn't sit for long and before he knew it, Elliot Cyrus was partying and drinking with other girls.

Tara was really gone.

~~~~~

Meanwhile, somewhere in the same club was a girl who had just lost her job, slowly sipping her drink, she scanned the club and looked at the VIP section, she took note of a particular guy who seemed to be having a lot of fun and thought to herself 'I want to be up there too, having fun.'

Drunk, she stumbled out of the club and hailed a cab.