The gala music was still faint on his end of the line.
“You home?”
“Yeah.”
“Pull up the file I emailed you. Cami needs it for her presentation tomorrow.”
The silence stretched. When I finally spoke, my throat was tight.
“Did you see my text?”
He paused. When he answered, his voice hadn’t shifted at all.
“I saw it. We’re going to pretend you didn’t send that.”
I didn’t say anything.
I felt like a joke. The kind that’s only funny to everyone else.
“So I don’t even get to leave? Is that how this works?”
He sighed.
“Don’t pull this just because you’re pregnant, Mara. My patience has limits.”
My eyes burned.
Almost five years together.
At work, he kept me at arm’s length because he couldn’t have anyone thinking I’d gotten special treatment.
So I outworked everyone. Earned every inch of where I stood.
Outside the office, I never asked for much. Never pushed for dates, never begged for his time.
The most I ever did was catch his sleeve on mornings he left first and ask for a kiss.
His patience had limits? He’d never given me any to begin with.
I blinked, and the tears spilled over.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. You won’t hear from me again.”
He scoffed, quiet and almost amused, like I’d said something ridiculous.
“I’ll deal with all of this when I’m done tonight.”
“Be at the office by six thirty. Cami will tell you what she needs. Coordinate with her.”
He hung up.
He’d always been good at ending things: conversations, arguments, me. This was just one more time.
My eyes landed on the framed photos along the wall.
Every single one was a company gala group shot.
Graham, always dead center.
Over five years, I’d moved from the far edge of the back row to the spot right behind him. The closest I could get.
A maintenance guy saw them once during a routine visit. Told me I must really love my job.
I just smiled.
He didn’t know those were the only photos Graham and I had together.
That’s why I looked forward to the gala every year.
But I wouldn’t be in this year’s picture.
Camille would be standing next to him. The director spot, my director spot that had been left empty for five years, was hers now.
I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
Then I picked up my phone and booked the clinic appointment.
Some messes you have to clean up yourself.