A single unanswered phone call can shatter the story we tell ourselves about love. What Frankie discovers may change everything—forever.
Writing Prompt
Frankie’s fingers trembled as she stared at the name glowing on Tommy’s phone—JaAnne Messla.
Frankie had never seen the name before, but something in her body recognized the danger instantly, like stepping into a cold room where someone had just whispered her name. Tommy was in the shower, humming, oblivious. The steam curled from under the bathroom door as the phone stopped ringing. Then, seconds later, it chimed again with a text notification. Frankie’s pulse ticked in her ears. They had been together four years—four years of shared sunrises, late-night pizzas, road trips with the radio blasting, and her believing without question that he was the one. Her soulmate. Her future. But the quiet click on the other end of the line when she answered—that wasn’t nothing. That was a crack. A warning. A truth begging to be uncovered. Frankie opened Tommy’s messages, her breath catching as the first words came into view. They weren’t explosive, but they were wrong. Wrong enough to pull the floor out from under her. Tommy turned off the shower. The water stopped. And Frankie realized she had only seconds to decide what kind of story she was living in.
Reader’s Question:
If you were Frankie—phone in hand, truth on the brink—what would you do next?