Ten Years Wasted Before Spring Chapter 05
The other end went dead silent.
I could imagine their faces. Panic. Confusion. Maybe even the shame of being caught.
“Celia, let me explain,” Everett said urgently.
I hung up, hit send on the mass text to the wedding party and our guests, and turned off my phone.
Outside, morning had already arrived.
This was supposed to be the most beautiful day of my life.
I left the hotel and drove back to our condo.
I stood in the bedroom and began packing.
The toothbrushes lined up in the bathroom. The matching mugs on the coffee table. His ties and my dresses hanging side by side in the closet.
Every detail stabbed me.
I booked a one-way ticket to Seattle for that afternoon, where our company had just opened a new branch.
My manager had asked before whether I would be willing
to help develop the new market. I had turned him down because of the wedding.
Now it was perfect.
Before leaving, I looked one last time at the little home I had carefully built.
I once thought it was the beginning of my happiness.
Now I knew it had only been a breeding ground for lies.
On the way to the airport, I turned my phone back on.
Dozens of missed calls appeared. Everett. Brynn. Both sets of parents.
I answered none of them.
I only emailed Director Voss.
[I need to use PTO for the next few days and relocate to Seattle. If the offer for the branch role is still open, I’d like to start the transfer process as soon as HR can approve it.
Best,
Celia Marlowe]
The reply came quickly.
[Take the time you need. I’m glad you’re reconsidering. I’ll have HR start the paperwork first thing Monday, and we can put you on remote handoff until you’re cleared to join the Seattle project.]
I closed my phone and watched the city blur past the
window.
This city held all my youth and all my love.
Now I was burying both with my own hands.
On my first day in Seattle, I threw myself into getting settled in a temporary apartment while I waited for HR to provision my access for the new branch.
New city. New life. Keeping busy was the best distraction.
Everett sent countless iMessages. They started as explanations and apologies, then slowly turned into
accusations.
[Celia, you’re being too impulsive.]
[We’ve been together for ten years. You can’t even give me a chance to explain?]
[I was drunk that night. I really didn’t know what happened.]
[Brynn and I… it was a mistake.]
[Can’t you give me a chance to change?]
I read the messages and felt nothing.
Ten years, and it had been this fragile.
