Longer than necessary. Longer than comfortable.
Neither of us pull away.
Because we both understand what comes next.
And letting go means stepping into it.
*****
The café is already loud by the time evening settles in.
Chairs scrape. Voices overlap. Someone has pushed a cluster of tables together in the center, creating a space that feels fuller than usual, closer, warmer. The lights are a little too bright.
There’s a cake on the counter.
It leans slightly to one side, the frosting uneven, the edges a little rough where someone clearly tried to fix the buttercream and gave up halfway. Too many candles crowd the top, wax already starting to drip. The smell of it rises: vanilla, warm, with an undertone of butter that has been creamed a little too enthusiastically, and a faint, sweet sharpness from the food colouring.
My name is written across it in blue icing.
The letters aren’t perfect. They dip and tilt, a little shaky.
I stand there longer than I mean to.
Just… looking.
A cake with my name on it. A room full of people who stayed. This is for me.
“Cut it already,” someone calls from behind me, laughter tucked into their voice.
I blink, come back to myself, reach for the knife.
The first slice is uneven. Everyone cheers anyway. Hands clap. Someone whistles.
Someone else starts a speech that goes on far too long, filled with stories I barely remember living through, exaggerated until everyone’s laughing. Another voice cuts in, demanding the corner piece with extra frosting.
I laugh.
And then the goodbyes begin.
By the counter, someone pulls me into a quick hug and tells me I’ll be incredible at the new job.
Near the espresso machine, another presses a slice of cake into my hands and tells me to come back soon.
By the door, someone squeezes my shoulder and says it won’t be the same without me.
I promise to visit. I promise to text. I mean it every time.
At some point, I realize I haven’t seen him. I scan the room again, slower this time.
Every face.
Every corner.
Not him.
The room feels different because of it.
I slip away before anyone can stop me. Grab my jacket. Push the door open.
