“Except the one thing I’m asking for,” she said, her voice miserable. “The one thing I need.”
Tears blurred my eyes.
She leaned over and kissed my cheek.
“Goodbye,” she whispered –
And then she got out of the car, closed the door –
And was gone.
100
Emilia
Istumbled away from the car and turned the corner as fast as I could, trying to keep it together.
There was a restaurant. I staggered over to it, tears streaming down my cheeks.
A waitress looked over at me as I walked in. “Sit wherever you – ”
She stopped talking as soon as she saw my face.
“I just need to – to use your bathroom,” I sobbed.
She pointed towards the back of the restaurant, her eyes wide.
I nodded, then managed to get to the door and lock myself inside before I completely broke down.
I sobbed.
I wailed.
I hurt worse than I could ever remember – worse even than when my parents died.
When I lost them, I lost my family –
But now, I’d lost the man I loved.
Ourfamily.
The little girl in the red dress… the toddler… the house in the country with the vines growing on the walls.
I’d lost the one true love of my life…
And the future I’d so desperately wanted with him.
It felt like I was dying…
Because everything I cared about was dead.
PART XI
October 27
Late Afternoon
101
