Dory is gone.
I sit on her bed—the same one I’ve spent so many nights in—and steeple my hands under my chin, trying to figure out why she’d just leave.
I’ve been coming here every night.
She has to know I’m not just coming for sex. Shehasto know I’m here for more. That I want more.
That I want her. Forever.
She knows…right?
Something catches my eye, and I cross the room to the dresser. There’s just one thing sitting on top of it.
The Outsiders.
I didn’t notice it before because the room was already sparsely decorated.
There’s a slip of paper sticking out of the top, and I already know what page it’s marking. I’ve read the book enough times.
I flip it open.
She’s circled the last line of the Frost poem.
Nothing gold can stay.
I’m sorry, the note reads.
I’m sorry too.
Slice Twenty
Doris
Ididn’t miss these stairs.
The old, rickety ones that are tarnished with rust and stains.
The ones I’m climbing now as I make my way back to my old apartment.
I couldn’t face him. The longer I sat soaking in the tub, the clearer it became.
I had to take the coward’s way out because I knew if I didn’t, I’d stay, and then the heartache would just come in the next few weeks.
Why delay the inevitable? Just rip the Band-Aid off and go our separate ways.
I’ve just trudged up the last set of stairs when the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.
He’s here.
I don’t have to turn around to know it.
I can feel it.
I squeeze my eyes shut as I hear him climb the steps behind me.
He doesn’t stop until he’s standing so close I can feel his breath on the back of my neck.
“What are you doing here?” I dare ask.