Saul follows her out. Says something I can’t hear.
She laughs.
The sound doesn’t reach me, but I see it. The way her head tips back. The way her whole body softens.
She’s laughing. Really laughing.
The laugh of someone who’s happy.
Saul reaches out. Touches her face. Gentle. Familiar.
She leans into his hand.
And then she kisses him.
The world goes red.
Not metaphorically. Actually red, like blood behind my eyes, like something rupturing in my skull.
She’s kissing him.
Her mouth on his. Her hands on his chest. Her body curved toward him like a flower toward the sun.
The same mouth that kissed me. The same hands that traced my scars and told me I was beautiful. The same body I held through the night, wrapped around me like I was the only solid thing in her world.
She’s giving all of that to someone else.
I told her I’d come back. I promised.
And she believed me. I saw it in her eyes that morning. She trusted me.
And then she was gone and I couldn’t find her and now she’s moved on. Like I was easy to replace. Like what we had wasjust two weeks of fucking around while she waited for someone better.
Someone safe. Someone who wouldn’t get her killed.
Someone who isn’t me.
I can’t breathe. Can’t think. Can’t do anything except watch as the woman I love kisses another man like I never existed.
They break apart. Talk for another minute. She’s smiling. He’s smiling.
They look happy.
They look like a couple.
She walks over and flips the sign on the door. CLOSED. Then his arm goes around her, casual, possessive, comfortable, and they disappear inside.
Together.
Into her bakery. Her home. Her life.
I don’t know how long I sit there.
Long enough for the sun to shift. Long enough for my hands to cramp from gripping the steering wheel. Long enough for the red behind my eyes to fade into something worse.
Gray. Empty. The color of nothing.
She moved on. She’s happy. She doesn’t need me.
