All Chapters of Wedding Planning Was Too Much Trouble, So I Left Him: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

After I finished explaining what I had in mind, Yale only rubbed his brow and said gently, "Quincy, I've been tired lately. I really don't want to put this much thought into it."I'd believed him. In the end, I'd quietly gone online and ordered ready-made favor boxes myself.Now I understood. He hadn't been too tired to bother. He just hadn't wanted to bother for me.I took a deep breath and stood. Yale looked up at the sound, his mouth parting as if he wanted to say something, but Nora caught his arm first."The photography studio has a new package. Which one do you think we should pick?"He hesitated, then turned to her.I picked up my bag, left the studio, and hailed a cab. When the driver asked where I was going, I sat there for a long moment without an answer. I'd lived in this city for three years, yet somehow there wasn't a single place I could think of going.In the end, I gave him my home address.Some things needed to be brought to a proper close.I didn't turn on the lights

After lunch, Nora started opening the housewarming gifts her friends had brought. By the time she reached the last few large boxes, she was practically shaking with excitement.Inside were ten pairs of shoes, every one a limited-edition style from the current season. Spread across the floor, they looked like a miniature shoe display.The card read, [I didn't know which style you'd like, so I bought them all.]Nora hugged one of the boxes to her chest, her cheeks flushed with excitement as she leaned against Yale's shoulder, laughing. "How did you know I've been obsessed with this brand lately? You spent way too much!""You mentioned once that you liked the designer." Yale's tone was casual, but the affection in it was impossible to miss. "I didn't want you wasting time trying to choose."I looked down at my own feet.I'd been wearing the same pair of heels for two years, and the color along the edges had already started to fade.Back when Yale and I first got together, money had been s

August in Southhaven felt like a steam room.When I landed, everything I had fit into my hands: one spare T-shirt and a wallet with my ID inside. I left the airport and checked into the cheapest budget hotel I could find nearby.The next morning, I started looking for work.I sent out seventeen résumés and landed five interviews. The first four companies took one look at the fact that all three years of my experience came from the same small firm and didn't even invite me back for a second round.At the fifth, the recruiter flipped through my résumé before looking up at me."You built projects from the ground up at your last company?""Yes.""And you handled proposal approval, client coordination, and financial reviews yourself?""Yes.""Why did you leave?"I hesitated. "Personal reasons."She studied me for a few seconds, then circled something on my résumé."Come in next Monday. Three-month probationary period."Just like that, I had a job.The pay wasn't great, but it was enough to

By my third month in Southhaven, my new company landed a major contract with one of the top three tech firms in the industry. The deal was worth eight figures, and when our boss announced it at the meeting, the whole office erupted.Afterward, one of my coworkers clapped me on the shoulder. "Quincy, that was impressive. You've only been working that account for two months."I smiled.I'd learned how to handle clients and sell a proposal at Yale's company. Back then, a single pitch could go through more than a dozen revisions, with clients picking apart every detail until well past midnight. I'd sit alone at the computer working through their comments one by one while Yale fell asleep beside me.Sometimes he'd wake the next morning to find me still revising and say, rubbing his eyes, "You don't have to be so obsessive about it. Good enough is fine."Good enough.Apparently, that was how he'd treated our relationship too. As long as what he gave me was good enough, that was all that matt

Six months later, I got promoted.The company bumped my salary to about sixty thousand a year and put me in charge of a small team. I also moved out of my cramped studio and into a two-bedroom apartment in Southridge, with heat, a balcony, and sunlight that lasted from morning well into the afternoon. I kept two pots of pothos out there, and both were thriving.On moving day, one of my new coworkers helped carry boxes upstairs and asked, "Quincy, don't you ever get lonely living by yourself?"I told her I didn't. The best thing about living alone was that no one else's moods got to dictate mine.Life settled into a steady rhythm after that. I got up at seven, worked until ten most nights, and spent the occasional weekend running nearby or staying home with a book. There wasn't a single trace of Yale left on my phone anymore, and it felt like I was beginning life again with a clean slate.I thought it would stay that way until one afternoon, when I was downstairs at the coffee shop wa