Chapter 5

I smiled. "Yeah, it's enough."

Saturday morning, I made breakfast in the kitchen—oatmeal, hard-boiled eggs, and a small plate of pickles—his favorite.

"Julian, can you stay home today?"

He looked a little surprised.

"I just want you to spend the day with me."

"Sure. I don't have anything going on anyway." He smiled and sat down to eat.

I sat across from him, trying to memorize his face.

"Julian."

"Hm?"

"Do you love me?"

His spoon paused halfway to his mouth. "Where's that coming from?"

"I want to hear you say it. Just once."

"I'm marrying you. What do you think?"

"Getting married and being in love aren't the same thing."

"What's gotten into you today?"

"I just want to hear you say it."

He set down his spoon and looked at me. "Elena, of course I…"

His phone rang, and he glanced down at the screen.

"It's Rosalie."

"Don't answer it."

"I'm just going to see what she wants."

He swiped to answer.

"She says a pipe burst at her place. There's water all over the floor."

"She can call a plumber."

"It could take an hour or two for someone to get there. Her whole place will be flooded by then."

He stood up. "I'm going over to take a look. I'll be back soon."

"Julian, you promised you'd stay home with me today."

"I know, but this is an emergency. A pipe burst. I can't just ignore it."

"What about me?"

"What about you? You're fine."

He always thought I was fine. Rosalie's burst pipe was an emergency; my broken heart wasn't.

During the first year we were together, when Julian had told me he loved me for the first time, he'd said, "Elena, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

That day, he'd taken me to a little diner for burgers and promised we'd come back every year on our anniversary.

The second year, he forgot.

The third year, I reminded him.

"It's just burgers," he'd said. "We can go another day. What's the difference?"

By the fourth year, I stopped bringing it up; by the fifth, I didn't either.

Julian never remembered again.

"An hour, tops. Then I'll come back and spend the rest of the day with you."

Julian put on his coat, grabbed his toolbox, and stopped at the door to look back at me. "Don't be mad."

Three hours passed before I called him.

"I'm almost done. The pipe's fixed, but there's water everywhere. I'm helping her clean it up."

"When are you coming home?"

"Soon."

Another hour passed before he texted me.

"Rosalie says thanks for letting me come over. She's buying me lunch. I'll be home after we eat."

I didn't reply.

Another message came through.

"Go ahead and eat without me. Don't wait."

I sat in the living room, staring at the breakfast on the table.

The oatmeal had gone completely cold, and the yolks of the soft-boiled eggs had hardened.

I got up and walked into the bedroom, opened the closet, and pulled out two suitcases. I really didn't have much in this apartment. My clothes filled one suitcase, while my books and everything else barely filled half of the other. In the bathroom, all I had by the sink was a toothbrush and a bottle of face wash.

Rosalie had more things here than I did—a pair of canvas shoes, a jacket, a coffee mug, and a tube of lipstick.

I slipped off my engagement ring and placed it on the coffee table. Beside it, I lined up the five fridge magnets. Then I left a note.

"Julian, I already backed out of the house. I'm giving the ring back. You can have the five fridge magnets too. As for the honeymoon, find someone else to take."

I pulled my suitcases to the entryway and looked back one last time. There was a coaster Rosalie used when she came over for tea. Her favorite strawberry yogurt sat in the fridge, and her white canvas shoes remained in the shoe rack.

Everywhere I looked, there were traces of Julian and Rosalie.

Everything that belonged to me fit into two suitcases.

I pulled the door shut behind me without locking it.

My ride was waiting downstairs.

The driver helped load my luggage.

"Where to?"

"Northbridge Station."

As the car pulled away from the apartment complex, I didn't look back.