Another lonely day, another silent dinner. Rhett was unsteady on his feet as he rose from the table to retire to the library.
Much later, Scarlett rose to retire to bed. She saw the light under the library door and paused outside. How she longed for Rhett to comfort her. Cautiously she pushed the door open. Rhett was sitting facing the fire and did not turn to look at her. 'Goodnight, Rhett', she said. 'Goodnight', he answered dully.
She hesitated at the door, before deciding to enter the room. Slowly she walked towards him to stand facing him.
'Rhett...' she began uncertainly. He frowned at her, irritated that she had disturbed his peace. 'What is it?' he said.
'I miss you.' There, she had said it.
His eyes flickered up to meet hers briefly before he looked away again. 'I am still here', he responded eventually. 'But you mean, I suppose, that you miss the person I used to be. Well that is your misfortune. If you were not such a fool you would have enjoyed my company before it was too late'.
'Too late?' she echoed.
'Yes', he responded. 'Too late. I am not that person anymore, and I have nothing left to give.'
'Nothing?' she echoed stupidly.
'Just go to bed, Scarlett', he sighed.
Scarlett's temper flared. 'Stop shutting me out Rhett! I am still here too, in case you hadn't noticed. Pull yourself together. Moping about like this is not going to change what has happened. You will drink yourself to death if you carry on as you have been.'
Rhett didn't even look at her. 'Perhaps that is what I want', he answered tiredly. 'Besides, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you were the one who shut me out?'
He had her there. She had shut him out, banning him from her bed. She had regretted it almost as soon as she had done it. She had not anticipated how much she would miss him. But how could she tell him that?
'I'm sorry Rhett', she whispered.
He did look at her then. A long searching look. Then he sighed heavily and looked away without speaking.
The silence stretched out. Rhett sat, staring into the distance, and Scarlett stood before him, unsure whether he would respond or not.
Eventually, when she realised he had no intention of speaking further, she stepped forward and surprised him by kissing him lightly on the cheek, her hand resting gently on his shoulder as she did so. 'Goodnight, Rhett', she said sadly as she withdrew and headed up to her lonely bedroom.