Page 16 of Don't Fall

There’s a zip of her stool spinning and the breeze she leaves in her wake as she makes every effort to stomp off in a huff, but can’t quite pull it off because she’s polite and considerate, and takes the time to clear both our plates, rinse them and load them in the dishwasher before muttering a ‘thanks for the sandwich’ and continuing her dramatic exit.

This is the point at which I stop her. “I’m not going to lose any mail because I still own the house it’s being sent to. And, frankly, this job is...just a job. I have no intention of building a career around it. So, if it doesn’t pan out, oh well.”

Her exit successfully halted, I’ve topped my initial expectations and managed to stump her. “Huh?”

I release a long, worn out breath of air. My intentions were to keep things simple. To create a disconnect. To change course abruptly and not look back until I was so far ahead, looking back didn’t fucking hurt anymore. But those plans clearly only applied to life in a bubble. Blissful solitude which didn’t include people or their prying questions. All of which disappeared the second she came crashing in, swinging her dead aunt’s umbrella at my head.

Relenting to the situation such as it is, I get to my feet and approach her.

“I was supposed to get married end of May. The date was set two years ago. The wedding was paid for. Everything was ready. Except the bride.”

Her eyeballs sweep from one side to the other, presumably in search of an escape. “Oh.”

“Yeah. That’s pretty much what I said too when I found out she wasn’t as keen on getting married to me as she was ready to trek through Europe with my best man.”

Her jaw drops and her eyeballs stop scanning the room, freezing instead. Directly on me. “Wow.”

“Uh-huh.” I hate telling this story. Which, I figured I would. This is the first time I’ve had to tell it. Considering it’s September, I guess I held it off for a pretty long time. “With the wedding being canceled, it kind of put a damper on our other plans as well.”

“Your other plans?” Fear. Definite fear in her voice. Hell, I’d be scared to ask as well. Curiosity though, it’s a killer.

“To buy a far greater house than we could possibly need, directly on the beach so we could use it as a home office and combine our practices to run a joint couple’s therapy center.”

The corners of her mouth jerk briefly as she wards off the instinct to laugh. “I can see where having your marriage be a bust could sort of cast a shadow on couple’s therapy.” I have to commend her for keeping a straight face through that one.

“Yep.”

Silence sets in as I give her time to piece the rest together for herself.

Eventually, her expression turns neutral. There’s a softness in her eyes when she nods and says, “I’m pretty comfortable with keeping secrets.”

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