“I lost my job.”
I had heard that too.
Her company had placed her on leave after the investigation, then terminated her after an internal review.
“I’m alone.”
I felt Emily’s hand resting on the table near mine.
Sarah’s eyes became wet.
“I miss you.”
I said nothing.
“I miss us.”
There it was.
The sentence she had been moving toward through every text, every call, every attempt to reach me through my mother.
Sarah took a breath.
“I know I was horrible.”
I looked at her.
“Yes.”
The bluntness startled her.
“I know.”
“I don’t think you did then.”
“I didn’t.”
She swallowed.
“I thought you’d always be there.”
“I know.”
“I thought I could figure things out and that if it didn’t work…”
She stopped.
She had finally reached the truth.
I finished it for her.
“I would still be waiting.”
Sarah looked down.
“Yes.”
I felt something close to sadness.
Not longing.
Not love.
Sadness for how completely she had misunderstood what loyalty meant.
“You thought my commitment meant I had no boundary.”
She wiped one eye.
“I was selfish.”
“Yes.”
“I was stupid.”
“Yes.”
Her mouth trembled.
“Do you have to keep saying yes?”
A small laugh escaped me.
Not cruel.
Just honest.
“You’re the one telling the truth now.”
For the first time, Sarah gave the faintest broken smile.
Then it disappeared.
“Is there really no chance?”
I looked at her for several seconds.
Five years passed through my mind.
The study group.
The apartment floor.
Chocolate cake.
Her grandmother’s funeral.
My father’s surgery.
The proposal.
The wedding venue.
The corkboard.
The hidden phone.
Liam.
The dinner.
I’m not going to apologize.
You always forgive me.
All of it was real.
That was precisely why I would not pretend it could simply be repaired.
“The man who planned that wedding with you is gone.”
Sarah’s eyes filled.
“He disappeared the night you told me you weren’t sorry.”
“Alex…”
“I’m not saying that to punish you.”
My voice remained calm.
“I needed him to disappear.”
She looked confused.
“Why?”
“Because he believed loving someone meant always giving them one more chance.”
I glanced toward Emily.
“He didn’t understand that sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is accept what somebody has shown you.”
Sarah looked at Emily.
Then at me.
“You’re happy?”
“Yes.”
Her face folded slightly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to show the answer had landed.
“I really did love you.”
I believed her.
That was perhaps the saddest part.