I Chose to Leave
Citrus Vale
After saving money with Justin Pierre for five years, we finally went to view a house. My best friend, Maria Houston, came along too.
"The master bedroom needs a walk-in closet. Can we knock down this wall?" she asked Justin while pointing at the floor plan I had been looking at for the past six months.
"I'll get a designer to take a look tomorrow. You can change it however you want."
The two of them discussed everything, from the direction the apartment faced to the tiles, from the floor-to-ceiling windows to the bathtub. Meanwhile, I stood in the corner, unable to get a word in.
When it was time to sign the papers, he seemed to suddenly remember I was here and said, "We'll put this place under Maria's name for now. She's here all by herself, so consider it a company benefit. The company is a little tight on cash lately. You can keep renting for another two years."
However, I had also left my hometown behind to build a life with him from nothing five years ago. Back then, we had squeezed into a tiny apartment without even air-conditioning, and he had made me a promise with absolute certainty.
"Once the company takes off, the first thing I'll do is give you a home."
Now that the company had finally succeeded, the first home he bought was for someone else.
I stared at the two signatures side by side on the contract and realized there was no place for my name.
Since he had already planned a future that did not include me, I was not going to wait for him anymore.
Thinking about it, I opened the page to terminate my lease and confirmed it.