She frowned, her gaze landing on the cardboard boxes stacked near the door. “I told you not to buy that stuff in the first place. Now you’re wasting time throwing it out,” she grumbled, and without hesitation, she picked up one of the boxes and carried it outside.
I followed her, watching as she casually discarded the items into the dumpster—things meant to commemorate five years of memories. They meant as little to her as I apparently did.
Later, at the restaurant, she ordered our usual seafood-boil and sides but added a dish I hated—milt or fish sperm.
My appetite evaporated instantly. This time, I decided not to hold back.
“Waiter,” I said calmly, “take this dish away and just bring the check, please.”
Odessa grabbed the plate and pulled it toward her. “Are you still upset because I didn’t visit you in the hospital? Leif, you fell down the mountain on your own. Don’t pin your clumsiness on me.”
I’d seen her care before, so her indifference now was impossible to ignore. The woman who once insisted on rushing me to the hospital for a paper cut couldn’t even be bothered to visit when I was admitted for three days. The woman who avoided milt because she knew I hated it was now ordering it. She had reverted to the person I met five years ago.
I gave her a faint smile, “You know I hate it. I feel like throwing up just seeing it.”
“Then don’t eat it!” she snapped. Her irritation didn’t bother me. If anything, it amused me. I leaned back in my chair, my smile fading as I began to speak.
“Maybe it’s time we break—”
“Odessa!” he exclaimed with a grin. “After all these years, you still remember I love milt!”
Before I could finish, a man appeared at our table, interrupting me. I looked up to meet the smug, condescending gaze of the man standing beside her. Odessa shifted in her seat to make room, and the man slid in beside her, sitting directly across from me.
“Let me introduce myself,” he said, smiling. “I’m Odessa’s boyfriend, Kirk Washington.”
I didn’t respond, and he reached over to pinch Odessa’s cheek affectionately.
“Why don’t you introduce me to your friend here?”
Odessa’s expression faltered. It was clear she hadn’t anticipated Kirk showing up. She avoided my eyes, her hands fidgeting with the napkin in her lap. I decided to make it easy for her. Smiling faintly, I answered for her.
“I’m her neighbor, Leif Delgado. We’re just sharing a table since the place is packed.”