My mother, however, had had the worst reaction.
“Chloe, how could you?!” my mother had practically screamed over the phone. “The guests, the food, the dress—how could you call this off? Look at the wedding he had planned. Look at what he can provide you—“
“I don’t need anyone to provide for me,” I snapped, in disbelief that she was reacting this way. “I’m capable of doing that myself.”
“This is ridiculous. Go back over there and tell him you made a mistake—“
“Mother—“
“—Tell him you had a momentary lapse, that you were just lonely when he was gone,” she continued, desperation in her tone. “Tell him anything, Chloe. You need this. You need—“
“What do I need?” I asked. “To sit at home alone and feel indifferent when he is there? I shouldn’t feelnothingfor the person I’m meant to spend my life with.”
“And what will you do now, Chloe?” she asked. “Idiot girl. You were the only one of your sisters to marry up.”
“Is that all you care about? Status? The fact that Tyler had well-known parents? Not the fact that your daughter wasn’t happy?”
“The situation the two of you had was what many of us wished for when we married. Our own lives while being provided for, not having someone come home after work and wonder why the laundry wasn’t done.”
“Don’t you dare make this about Dad—“
“You are silly if you think marriage is only about love,” she spoke over me. “It’s about finding someone to take care of you—“
“That’snotwhat I want,” I said, my voice shaking as I was on the verge of tears. “Just because you spent your life in resentment and unhappiness because you thought he didn’t do enough doesn’t mean I have to spend my life like that. I want someone I get excited for, a best friend to share my life with, someone who fights for me and looks at me as though I’m the moon and stars and endless night—”
“That’s a fairytale, dear,” she grunted.
“Then call me fucking Cinderella,” I snapped as the tears fell down my face. “Because I’ve already found it.”
I avoided telling her who it was, and I would avoid it for as long as I could because I knew the moment I told her who he was, her entire argument about being provided for would have turned around, and I hated that that was all she would see him as.
I had made it to work at least on Wednesday morning. A few co-workers noticed how distracted I was, but I wasn’t ready to discuss it. I had only told Ezzie that morning before making my way to my office, and she hugged me and told me she would be there if I needed anything.
I couldn’t concentrate. My mind was blank. Absent of actual thought.
I was just so fucking tired.
My phone buzzed back on my desk, and I stopped chewing the end of my pen and staring out the window to see the message.
A small smile worked its way onto my lips at the name on the screen.
How are you today?Gavin asked.
I sat down at my desk and pulled up my email before answering.
I’m okay, I answered.I haven’t told anyone here yet. Just Ezzie. I don’t think I’m ready for all the questions.
Take your time, he said.You were engaged for two years.
It feels like I’ve wasted so much time and energy trying to deny something that only worked in the beginning.
There was no way to know that.
I should have waited for you.
Three dots strummed the bottom of the screen for a moment.Are you at work?
I am. Are you coming by to approve this final?
