
Outside the Lines You DrewMy boyfriend, Simon Carver, was a man with very strong boundaries.
For three years, he never let me go to his place. He said it was his private territory.
He never let me touch his phone, not even to check the time.
Even at gatherings with friends, he always seated me farthest away from him.
I always thought he simply wasn't used to intimacy.
Then, on the eve of our wedding, I received his shared location.
I thought he had finally decided to let me get closer, so I followed the location and went to his home for the first time.
The door wasn't locked.
In the living room, a woman was wearing his oversized T-shirt like pajamas, her pale legs resting across his lap as she whined for him to massage her.
When he saw me, surprise flashed through Simon's eyes.
Then he returned to his usual indifference.
"Why are you here?
"That location was meant for Ives. I was in a rush and picked the wrong person.
"Maren, you need to give me some private space too. Don't see one shared location and come rushing over like a dog that smelled a bone, desperate to check up on me."
I found it funny.
He was intimate with another woman, yet he turned around and asked his fiancee for private space.
I didn't say anything else.
I just lowered my head and accepted the out-of-state transfer notice from my boss.
Since he thought I was standing too close, I would step farther away.
Far enough that his world would never have me in it again.