It Wasn’t Me – FFftPP

What follows is a piece inspired by the prompt over at Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner. The key elements were the photo below, the opening sentence/phrase and no more than 200 words. 

I almost missed the deadline this week, but late is better than not at all, I suppose! 

http://publicdomainarchive.com/public-domain-images-black-lab-puppy-on-rustic-wood-background/

It Wasn’t Me – 183 words

“…For the thousandth time, I promise you, it wasn’t me!” I try to get you to look at me, but you stare at the flooring ad in the magazine on the coffee table. The dog in the ad stares back at you, pulling your attention away from me.

That’s how things are now. Every time I speak, you look away, rifle through your purse, or feign a reason to leave. It’s been like this since you drove by the bank and saw me holding hands with my ex-girlfriend.

Only it wasn’t me holding her hand. I keep telling you that. I was nowhere near the bank that day, but you won’t hear it. You just look away.

You look away even when you speak, like you’re talking to the dog in the magazine and not to me. “It doesn’t matter,” you say.

But it matters to me and I try to tell you that, my chest tightening like my lungs are being shrunk in the dryer.

After you leave, I wonder what you saw in those glossy eyes you couldn’t see in mine.