“Don’t contact me again.”
He reached toward her.
“Laura, please.”
She shook her head.
“No. I know enough.”
Then she looked at me.
“I’m truly sorry, Claire.”
I believed her.
“You weren’t the person who promised me seven years of honesty,” I said.
Her eyes filled with tears.
Then she walked away.
Daniel watched her leave.
And I watched him watching her.
For the first time, he seemed to understand he couldn’t keep either relationship by talking his way through another explanation.
He turned toward me.
“Claire, please. Can we go home?”
I looked at him for a long moment.
Then I answered:
“I’m going home.”
Relief appeared briefly on his face.
I continued.
**“You’re not coming with me.”**
***
Daniel followed me toward the parking lot.
“Claire, wait.”
I stopped.
He stood in front of me.
“What happens now?”
I looked at him.
For seven years, almost every plan I’d made had included him.
