I force myself to relax.
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to." He exhales slowly, like he's the one being patient. "This is what I mean, Nora. Everything becomes about your anxiety. Your insecurities. Meanwhile, I'm trying to build something for us, and you're?—"
"You announced our engagement without asking me."
The words come out sharper than I intended.
He blinks. Pauses.
Then his expression shifts into something softer. Almost hurt.
“That’s what you’re so pissed off about? That I didn’t ask you? Nora, we talked about this."
"No, we didn't."
“Last night felt right, I mean the media already leaked it anyway and I thought—" He stops, shakes his head. "I thought you'd be happy. I thought you wanted this."
"I wanted you to ask me first or at the very least give me a heads up. Because we’re a team, remember?”
"So you're saying you don't want to marry me."
He says it quietly, like a wounded observation, not an accusation.
I take a step back, feeling the counter press against my spine.
"I—"
"Because that's what it sounds like. That's what disappearing last night looked like. That's what this is starting to feel like."
He runs a hand through his hair, suddenly looking exhausted.
"I gave you a ring. I told you I loved you. And now you're upset because I wanted everyone to know how much you mean to me?"
The logic of it wraps around me, tight and suffocating. When he puts it like that, I sound ungrateful.
"It's not about that," I say, but my voice wavers.
"Then what is it about? The dress?" He says it gently, like he's trying to understand. "The ring, the announcement—it's all?—"
I struggle to find the words. My hands are shaking now. I press them flat against the counter.
“I don’t like that you keep making decisions for me, and then I have to just go along with them."
He's quiet for a moment.
Then he nods slowly, like he's processing something difficult.
"Okay. I hear you. I do." He steps closer. Voice dropping. "But Nora, you have to understand—this is the business we're in.Timing matters. Momentum matters. I make quick decisions because that's how I've built everything we have. That's how I got your book made into a film. That's how I opened doors for you that no one else would have."
We. Us.
He's good at that. Making it sound like we're a team when what he really means is that I should follow his lead.
"I was already a writer before I met you," I say quietly.
His face changes.
