We need to talk.
I glanced at those words on my phone, then quickly stuffed the phone in my purse, as though I could make the words vanish by keeping the phone out of sight.
But those four little words haunted me.
I couldn’t unsee them.
Everyone knows you never want to see or hear those words from your partner. They are the universal prelude to a breakup.
I tried to tell myself not to jump to conclusions. My therapist was always reminding me not to assume I know the full story when I don’t know the full story.
“We need to talk” could mean anything.
It could be good news.
Maybe he got a promotion and he wants to talk about moving into a bigger space.
Maybe they want him to relocate, and he wants to talk to me about moving.
It could be good news. Why was I assuming it would be bad news?
When I opened the front door of our apartment and smelled takeout from my favorite Italian restaurant, I relaxed.
Once I had dumped my bag and made my way to the dining room, not only was the food laid out, but the lights were dimmed, tapered candles burned on the table (I didn’t even know we had tapered candle holders, much less candles), and there was a bouquet of red roses (my favorite) standing in a vase in the middle of the dining room.
“What’s the occasion?”
“Well, it’s kind of an apology.”
I looked at him as my relief vanished. “Apology for what?”
He came over and took my hands, but he wasn’t looking me in the eye. “Listen, Ashley, you’ve been great.”
Have been? As in, past tense?
I waited for him to continue, but he just looked at me, his green eyes full of pity.
“What is this?”
“It’s not you. It’s me.”
The cliché snapped me out of my fog. I started to get angry. “Are you serious right now?”
“I know it’s cliché, but sometimes clichés exist for a reason.”
“No, clichés exist so people can use them as a copout when they don’t want to say what’s really going on.”
“I just don’t want you to blame anyone but me for this.”
“For what?”
He took a deep breath before saying, “Nikki and I have been spending a lot of time together lately. Neither of us planned this. It just happened.”
“What just happened?” I had a feeling I knew where this was headed, but I wanted to hear him say it.
“I think I’m falling in love with her.”
I was opening the front door and heading back into the staircase of our building before I even realized I had moved.
To be continued…