I almost didn't look. Almost convinced myself it was spam, a work email, something I could ignore.
But I looked.
Charlotte
I know something's wrong. I'm not going to push. But whatever it is, you don't have to carry it alone. I'm here. Whenever you're ready.
I stared at the words until they blurred.
I'm here.
An offer I didn't deserve. A kindness I couldn't accept.
I turned off the phone, walked into the empty house, and sat down in the middle of my parents' living room, surrounded by boxes I still couldn't open.
Her message glowed in my memory, warm, patient, unwavering.
And I wondered how long I'd be able to remember it.
5.Charlotte
Day seven of radio silence, and I'd officially lost my mind.
I knew this because I'd just checked my phone while walking from the living room to the kitchen, a distance of approximately twelve feet, as if Miles might have texted in the four seconds it took to cross my apartment. He hadn't. Of course, he hadn't. He hadn't texted in seven days, one hundred and sixty-eight hours, approximately ten thousand minutes if I wanted to be dramatic about it.
And I was being dramatic about it.
"It’s fine," I announced to my empty kitchen, because talking to myself was apparently who I was now. "He's just busy. Settling an estate is complicated. Lots of paperwork. Very time-consuming."
My coffee maker gurgled in the background.
"Don't start with me," I told it.
I'd become the kind of woman who argued with appliances. This was whathehad reduced me to in one week. I even carried my phone in the shower. Not metaphorically, I'd actually brought it into the bathroom yesterday, propped it on the sink, and glanced at it through the steam while conditioning my hair.
The truly pathetic part? I'd sent one text. One. On Sunday evening, after the coffee date that had ended with his walls slamming up so fast I'd felt the distance.
Charlotte
Had a great time today. Hope everything's okay.
Breezy. Casual. Totally normal. Not at all the work of a woman who'd drafted and deleted fourteen versions before settling on something that sounded approximately human.
He hadn't responded.
My phone buzzed, and I nearly knocked my coffee mug off the counter, lunging for it.
Beth
You alive over there?
Not Miles. Of course, it wasn’t Miles. I exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself down.
Charlotte
Technically.
Beth
