She opened her eyes and glanced up to him. “Because it’s not the life you want.”
“Can we please go back upstairs and finish this?”
“That’s my point, Coop,” she scoffed. “You see this as something to finish. Something to get over with.”
“Stassi, you are the only person in my life who hasn’t let me down.”
She slammed the button and the elevator started moving again. “Then I’m sorry for doing this.”
“I am begging you to come back upstairs.”
“And then what, Coop? We pretend for the rest of our lives that you aren’t missing the life you could have had? I know how this story ends for both of us and I think I’ve known it for a long time, but I was too terrified to do anything about it.”
He slammed the button again, forcing the elevator to jerk as it came to a sudden stop.
“Coop, please,” she pleaded. “You have to let me go.”
Cooper shook his head violently. “You once said youwould live forever in this cage with me. I’ve lost Luke. I’ve lost Nico. I can’t lose you, too.”
Stassi turned to him and placed a hand over his chest, right over his heart that felt like it was about to break out of his chest. “Do you love him?”
“No,” Cooper lied.
Her eyes searched his and he knew that she fucking knew. “I’m going to ask you again and this time I want the truth. Do you love him?”
“It doesn’t matter. He fucking left me.”
“You know the difference between us right now?” She dragged her palms over her eyes and cheeks, wiping away the tears. “My heart is being ripped apart because I’m running away from the only thing that’s ever made me feel safe. Your heart was broken a long time ago, and then Nico broke it again. This hurt you feel? You’d never feel that for me and that’s okay. I promise you it’s okay.” She placed a steady hand back on his chest. “Nothing has to change between us. I’ll forever love you just the same, but not as your wife.”
“I can’t do this life without you.”
“No, you’re afraid to do this life without me.” She forced a smile through the pain and caressed the side of his cheek. “There’s a difference. And I know now, more than ever, that this thing between us is only holding you back.”
Cooper leaned back against the railing and cupped his hand over his mouth. “What am I supposed to tell everyone?”
“I wish I would have done this sooner. I wish it didn’t happen this way. But I was getting dressed for what is supposed to be the happiest day of my life, no matter howfraudulent it is. And I thought to myself, you’d never feel that same happiness. It broke something in me. It’s like you were talking to him.”
She quietly poked the button, and the elevator began moving again.
This time, Cooper didn’t fight it. Didn’t try to wrestle back control.
“So tell them I got cold feet, or that I cheated. Tell them it’s a private matter.”
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
“I love you more than anything in this world,” Stassi said as she kissed him on the forehead.
And then she was gone, and Cooper was left alone, standing in the elevator. He watched Stassi race through the lobby, cinching the fabric of her dress so as to not drag it on the floor. And as the elevator doors drew to a close, he leaned back against the golden railing and stared up at his reflection on the mirrored roof.
His eyes were swollen and his cheeks stained with tears.
the next day
Cooper stood in place, arms crossed over each other. It’d been almost two days since he slept and his eyes burned at the corners. Either he was going insane, or he should have had more faith in the preachings of the good ol’ lord because he saw visions of Luke all around him.
He reached for the sledgehammer beside him and took it into both hands.
The first thing he smashed was the glass cage housing Luke’s jersey.
