Brick by brick, the wall goes back up. Shutting her out.
Half of me's grateful she's trying. The other half wants her gone before she sees more.
The silence drags on, thick and heavy, broken only by the faint hum of the fridge and the occasional sip of coffee.
She picks at her eggs but doesn't eat much. I stare into my mug like it holds answers. The air feels charged, waiting for one of us to crack it open.
Minutes pass.
I can feel her glancing at me, then away, then back again. Waiting. But I've got nothing. The words stick in my chest, too raw, too dangerous to let out.
Finally, she sets her fork down. The clink is loud in the quiet.
"I should go," she says softly.
"Yeah." It comes out flat, final.
She stands, grabbing her mug to rinse it in the sink. Domestic. Normal. It's like we didn't just wake up tangled in my bed.
I don't move to stop her.
She slips on her shoes by the door, grabs her bag. Pauses with her hand on the knob.
"Raul."
"Don't." My voice cuts her off, sharper than I mean it.
She nods once, like she gets it. Or maybe she doesn't. Her eyes linger on me a second longer, sad but steady, then she's gone.
The door clicks shut behind her.
I sit there with my cold eggs and empty trailer, the wall fully rebuilt, higher than before.
CHAPTER 19
RAUL
…present day
"She wrote me back!" Carl yells, holding the letter over his head like he's just won the Golden Ticket.
He looks like an overexcited kid from Willy Wonka, vibrating with happiness.
Mail came through, but nothing was waiting for me. Not that I expected anything. I still haven't replied to Olivia.
I sit on my cot with my notepad open in my lap, staring at the half-finished scribbles from all the times I've tried and failed to turn my thoughts into something readable.
"Yeah? What'd she say?" I ask, letting out a low chuckle.
"I don't know yet, man. I'm scared to open it."
"You'll never know until you know."
I sound like such a hypocrite. But I'm definitely more of the do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do type.
He tears open the envelope.
Silence stretches between us as he reads.
