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I twirl my spoon in the bowl of soup, having lost my appetite, when suddenly her voice rings in my ears. I look up and realize she’s speaking to me.
“Pa-pardon?” I stutter, clearly embarrassed that I’m daydreaming amidst our celebratory dinner.
She starts again, “Are you feeling well? You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” I say. “I guess I’m just not very hungry. I had a big lunch.” It’s a lie, but I’m not about to let her think she’s getting to me.
She goes silent and now it’s awkward. I suppose it’s my turn to continue the conversation. I quickly say, “So, how long have you been working with this company?”
“For about three years or so. What about you?”
“Around three years, too,” I reply.
I glance around us and notice that no one is paying us any attention. Everyone is deep in conversation with one another. I guess this is as good of a time as any to rip the Band-Aid and test the waters.
I clear my throat and start again. “So, how have things been?” I say casually.
She blinks, frozen with her spoon hanging over her soup. Her expression is hard to read, but that’s nothing new. She’s always been hard to read. Her eyebrows are wrinkled at the center and the corners of her mouth quiver downward.
She averts her gaze. “Excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”
Okay, so she doesn’t want to talk? Not surprising. She stopped talking to me long ago. She gets up from the table and my temper flares. Always walking away from me. Never wanting to hash things out. Not this time.
I follow her, walking directly behind her until I get hold of her hand. We’re just passing the door, so I lead her in that direction, pulling her out of the restaurant.
“Who do you think you are?” She shrieks at me as she jerks her arm away. “What the hell, Jack?” Her glare pierces through me.
“Oh, finally, she’s speaking to me again,” I say sarcastically. “I feel so honored.”
The angry look on her face shifts into something else. A knowing smirk appears and she crosses her arms, manicured hands sitting pretty on her arms. “Are you serious right now? It’s been six years.”
“Yeah. Six years and no word from you,” I say. “You disappear into the night without so much as a ‘goodbye’, then you show up here like nothing happen.”
She scoffs and says, “Okay, Jack, you want to do this now? Fine. Let’s get it over with.”
I’m astounded by her nonchalant attitude. It’s like she just left the dishes in the sink and I’m throwing a tantrum over it. “What’s the story?” I say irritably.
“Story?” Her eyebrows bunch. “What story, Jack?”
“Why did you leave? Or better yet, why did you just decide to erase me from your life? I mean, one day, we’re together, and the next, you are no longer speaking to me.”
“That’s what you think? You think I erased you?”
“It’s sure what it seems like.” She’s turning away from me, rolling her eyes like a petulant teenager. “You disappeared on me, Sarah. You left without any word at all. You didn’t answer my calls or my texts—”
“You know, you’ve got a lot of nerve, Jack,” she barks angrily. Ha. That was rich. She’s mad at me. What’s she got to be angry about? She was the one who left.
“It was a lifetime ago. How dare you jump all over me with this?” Her blue eyes are sparking, though and it’s stirring something familiar and savage inside of me.
“I didn’t know what happened to you!” I shout over her. “You know, I went to your house, even and you didn’t open the door.”
“Maybe I wasn’t home.”
“You were home,” I snarl. “You were home all right. You just didn’t answer the door—”
“You were not the only one in that relationship, Jack!” Tears are hanging in her eyes as her face contorts in rage. “Are you so self-centered to think that I broke up with you for no reason? That you did nothing wrong? The way I see it, you were the one who left me first.”
I’m thrown off by that.I was the one that left her? What?
