"Rose, we're not kids anymore. You're mature enough to understand, right? Just wait a little longer. You promised—you said you'd never leave me."
With that, he glanced at the incoming call flashing on his phone and hurried out the door.
When I was sixteen, I waited for his broken heart to heal.
When I was eighteen, I waited for the better days he promised.
This year, I waited for him to marry me.
Now I was supposed to wait for whatever scraps of love he decided to throw my way.
One day passed. Then another. Leo never came back.
Instead, Adela's social media became the last place I saw him.
"Clumsy new dad-to-be."
"Shopping for baby stuff with my hubby—he insists it's a girl, so everything's pink."
"Morning sickness is brutal, but I've got my husband's home-cooked meals to get me through."
I looked down at the takeout Leo had ordered to my hotel door and let out a hollow laugh.
I slipped the plastic ring off my finger and dropped it on the table.
…
At the airport, before boarding, there was no longing, no goodbye. I snapped the SIM card I'd carried for nine years in half, tossed it in the trash, and walked through the gate without looking back.
Our love arrived without warning—mine crashed into me all at once, and his vanished just as fast.
I wished him well. I wished him everything.
I just never wanted to see him again.
Early the next morning, a call came through on Leo's phone.
It was from the hotel.
"Hello, is this Miss Barnes? After you checked out, some clothing and jewelry were left behind in your room. Would you like us to hold them for you?"
