Page 62 of Right Place, Right Time (Second Chances)
“It is true,” I whisper, tears coming to my eyes. “I’m not ashamed of you, Jay. I love you. I’m not ashamed of you.”
“I just can’t do this to you, Kate.”
“You’re not doing anything to me!” I yell, getting to my feet. Why doesn’t he understand? His past is just that…it’s in the past. What happened to him…it wasn’t even his fault.
He just shakes his head. “There are things I’ll never be able to do Kate…places I’ll never be able to go…all because I have to check a little box that says I’ve been convicted of a felony. I’ve already come to grips of what that means for me; I won’t let it limit you as well.”
“But Jay, it won’t limit me. It won’t,” I plead.
“Yeah? What happens when you get the teaching job you love and one of your coworkers finds out that your boyfriend is a felon? Or if it turns up on a background check that you’re associated with me. What happens then? What happens if you lose your job?”
I shake my head, tears spilling down my cheeks now. “That won’t happen.”
“It can.”
“It won’t!”
“Kate, I’ve been living in a bubble here with you. What we have…had…it was amazing.”
His use of past tense nearly kills me. “Itisamazing. Why are you doing this?”
“I’m doing this for you, Sunshine.”
“Don’t call me that! You don’t get to call me that if you’re breaking up with me!” I cry.
I fall to my knees and sob. I don’t understand. Things were so perfect this morning. Sure we were full of nerves, but we were full of love, too.
“I love you,” I say through my sobs. “Please don’t leave me.”
