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We’re over.
“I’ve missed you, Dean, so much.” A sob gets caught in her throat, her eyes turning glossy with unshed tears. If I’m being honest, I’m not entirely sure how to act. Karina doesn’t show emotion. I’m seeing a side of her that she keeps hidden away. She doesn’t allow herself to be vulnerable when it comes to me, and I’ve never been able to figure out why. She’s always been the greatest mystery.
“Don’t cry. I’m here now, and we need to have a serious conversation.” Reaching up, I wipe away the tears streaming down her fragile face.
“I’ve been trying to talk for weeks, but you never want to be around me or be at home with me.”
“Let’s go inside, and we’ll talk.” Her appearance guts me. She’s too beautiful to be dragged down and turned into a ghost of herself because of me, because I made a careless decision.
I follow her into our house, which has never felt like home. Perhaps subconsciously I knew that something life-changing would happen between us when we moved to Seattle, and that’s why I never even tried to make our place a home. I didn’t care about unpacking or filling the house with pictures and knickknacks. I didn’t care about any of it.
Maybe this is the reason why. My subconscious knew that our ending was inevitable.
Karina enters the kitchen and begins preparing herself a cup of tea. We’re both silent, and for a moment, I wonder if she knows what I’m about to say. She agreed that we need to talk, so I wonder if she’s thinking the same thing I am. That we’ve reached our expiration date.
We’ve reached our ending.
“Karina,” I begin, prepared to tell her that I’m packing my bags and officially moving out because I do want a divorce, and I’m done avoiding it.
She places her hand up to silence me.
“Let me speak first, Dean. Please.” I nod, waving my hand toward our dining room table. I lead the way, and she follows behind, carrying her cup of tea. We take a seat at the large white marble dining table that has never once been used but cost me a small fortune. I sit at one end, and she sits at the other. Somehow the space between us feels right.
“I know our marriage has been rocky lately, and we’re going through a rough patch, but I know we’ll be able to make it through. We’ve been here before, and we overcame our issues and ended up stronger than ever.” A hopeful smile curls at the corner of her pink lips.
My chest feels heavy. We’re not on the same page, and she’s not saying what I thought she would say. Stupidly, I had thought she would agree that we needed to spend more time apart—this time for good.
Of course we’re not on the same page. Have we ever actually been on the same page about anything before?
I tune her out, and even though I see her lips moving, I can’t hear a single word she says. Not until she says those two words that I never want to hear again. Those two words that suck the air from my lungs and nearly cause me a heart attack.
“What did you just say?” I snap, more forceful than needed to be.
With a wide smile and glossy eyes, Karina says the one thing that cements me to our marriage, the same way it did years ago.
“I’m pregnant, Dean.”
THIRTY-TWO
THEN
Camille,22 years old
“Riot! Riot! Riot!” the crowd chants, everyone around me just as eager as I am to see Riot perform live. For fucking months, I have wanted to see my favorite band live, but it never worked out with school. I was never able to take the time to travel out of state to see them.
They haven’t played a show in their home state of New York in a while. When they announced they’d be having a show here, I was online the exact second the tickets went on sale.
Unfortunately, they were sold out within minutes of them going on sale.
When I saw the site reload and showsold outtwo minutes later, I felt utterly murderous. I don’t want for much or ask for anything, but I badly wanted this.
I was lying on my bed wallowing in self-pity when Tyler called me and told me she had three tickets to Riot and was taking me and our other friend, Bree. The three of us met our first year of college and have been inseparable ever since.
I didn’t know how the fuck Tyler managed to get tickets, but I wasn’t questioning it. All I knew was she scored tickets and we were going.
That’s how the three of us ended up here.
I turned twenty-two not long ago, and we just graduated less than a week ago. Soon we’ll have to grow up and take on adult responsibilities, so being here with my two best friends and watching our favorite band perform seems like the best way to celebrate graduation and one last night of fun before I start my new job on Monday morning.
