Page 158 of Irreversible

Allison

I miss you so much. Please come home.

Collapsing backward on the loveseat, I reread the text message half-a-dozen times as I fight back tears.

Allison’s icon shines back at me, an image of the two of us with ear-to-ear smiles, our cheeks smashed together, arms tangled. I never had the heart to change it. Memories from a long-ago day at the theme park flash through my mind like a geyser of sun-kissed laughter, music, and unbreakable friendship.

Or so I thought.

I peruse through more missed texts, a few from my mother with her daily words of wisdom. She’s my human fortune cookie.

Mom

We must let go of the life we planned and live in the one given to us.

Mom

When life gives you lemons, make a Tequila Sour. Or three.

Mom

There are no bad days. Only lessons learned.

A smile touches my lips as I send back a few heart emojis.

I keep scrolling and land on another text, sent last night around nine p.m.

I freeze.

My throat clogs with grit.

Jasper

Can we talk? Please. It’s important.

He’s never texted me that before.

Generally, it’s always been a long string of apologies and guilt-ridden pleas for forgiveness. Every text I’ve ignored, every word I’ve banished from my mind. There’s no point in engaging—we’re divorced, and he’s with Allison. I collected the money owed to me in the divorce, moved nearly four hundred miles away, and picked up the pieces of my shattered life, aching to start anew.

I have no place in their world anymore.

My thumb hovers over the keypad as I debate my next move. Curiosity pokes me. Indecision weaves a barbed knot inside my chest.

Can we talk?

Please.

It’s important.

Closing my eyes, I turn off the screen and toss the phone beside me. I reach for a blanket and curl up on the loveseat, allowing exhaustion to take me under, while hoping sweet dreams find me.

The most important thing right now is getting through another day.

When I wake up three hours later, drowsy and hungry, I peer into the kitchen, searching for my new furry companion.

But he’s not there.

Mr. Binkers is gone.

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