Page 121 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

Then his voice fades and fades.

But I’m still standing numb,

haunted by the echo of it.

“You’re leaving,” I mutter.

My words leave

cold and without a heartbeat.

I should’ve known better.

And my heart?

She’s not mad.

She’s tired of me being me.

An empty laugh slips out of him.

“I can’t be here right now.

“I got work in five hours.”

My anxiety jumps.

He’s been drinking all night.

He lives almost an hour away.

“Andrew, wait a second⁠—”

“I can’t.”

He’s looking everywhere but at me.

“You also can’t leave like this⁠—”

“I don’t do triangles, Allison,” he grinds out. “I don’t do triangles, and I don’t fuck around with another man’s girl.”

My eyes narrow.

“That’s not what this is!”

“It’s not just that⁠—”

“Then what?”

His eyes finally slam back into me.

and the light’s drained out of them.

“You don’t even see it, do you?” He says it through a tight throat. “You don’t know what it’s doin’ to me, bein’ here, in your penthouse, watchin’ you gettin’ roses from a guy I hear on fuckin’ Spotify… findin’ out you’re flyin’ across the country to meet up with him… findin’ love letters on your nightstand… findin’ out you fucked a guy who’s⁠—”

A sad smile breaks him

“—who’s clearly in love with you, Allison. He’s in love with you, and you still gave him that. And me? What am I doin’?