“Claire…”
“And last night you reminded me that after all of that, you still see the responsibilities of being my partner as something optional.”
He shook his head.
“I love you.”
“I believe you.”
He looked confused.
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because love isn’t the problem.”
I looked around the apartment.
“The problem is that your version of love has always required me to carry more than you.”
Mr. Hernandez quietly excused himself.
Natalie picked up one of my boxes.
Marcus barely noticed either of them.
He was still looking at me.
“So that’s it?”
I picked up my handbag.
“For us living like this? Yes.”
“Where are you going?”
“My new apartment.”
His face went completely blank.
“You already rented another place?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Today.”
He actually stumbled backward half a step.
“Today?”
I nodded.
“You found an apartment, signed a lease, packed everything and canceled our accounts in one day?”
“No.”
He stared at me.
“I spent one day doing it.”
I swallowed.
“I spent ten years getting ready.”
That was when he finally understood.
This wasn’t revenge.
This wasn’t an ultimatum.
I wasn’t trying to scare him into changing.
I was leaving.
Marcus looked down at the floor.
Then he noticed the gift bag sitting beside the food.
“What’s that?”
I followed his eyes.
The leather camera strap.
I had forgotten about it.
I picked up the bag and handed it to him.
He opened it slowly.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
“You bought this for me?”
“Last week.”
He ran his thumb over the leather.
His eyes became wet.
“Claire…”
“Keep it.”
“I don’t want it like this.”
“Well, I don’t want the last ten years like this either.”
That finally broke something in his expression.
He sat down.
For the first time since I had met him, Marcus looked like a man who genuinely had no plan.
Natalie carried my final box toward the door.
I picked up my overnight bag.
Marcus stood again.
“So you’re really leaving me?”
I turned around.
There were a hundred cruel things I could have said.
I didn’t say any of them.
“No.”
He frowned.
I looked at the apartment.
