Page 15 of Catch Me If You Can

"Is this about the girl I hooked up with last night?" I cringe.

Sarah sits back in her chair and blows out a long breath. "No, Caleb. It's not about that. It's about how much Idon'tcare when I should."

I give her a half-smile. “Who cares when it’s fun, right?”

She doesn’t smile back. She takes a deep breath. Her eyes are steady, but I can see the fear in them. “I want to break up.”

Water slips down my throat the wrong way. I cough violently, grabbing my glass like it’ll save me from drowning.

"What?" I manage between coughs.

A waitress appears, takes one look at our faces, and wisely backs away. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”

“Where’s this coming from?” I ask once I can speak again.

Sarah looks everywhere but at me. “Caleb, I—I want more. We’ve been circling the drain for years. That can’t be normal.”

She’s waiting for me to agree. To finally admit that the chaos we called love wasn’t working anymore. But…I’m not sure if I want to admit that.

“Is it because you want someone else?”

“No,” she says, eyes shimmering. “I want something else. Something I can count on.”

I swallow. “You canalwayscount on me. You know that.”

“I know. In your own way, you mean that. But I’m talking about something different. A different kind of commitment. And I’m not going to ask you to change. I've just realized that...Ineed a change.”

She reaches for my hand and rubs her thumb across the back.

The gesture is tender.Final.

I don’t know what to say. I sit there, stunned. I want to fight for her, to ask her to stay. But the words don’t come.

“Say we’ll still be friends,” she whispers. “Because you’re one of my best friends, Caleb. You always will be.”

I nod, barely. My chest is a tight, aching knot.

This isn’t like our usual breaks. This isn’t temporary. This is Sarah Lockwood walking out of my future.

And all I can do is sit here and watch.

In a random streak of events, my mind returns to the one memory I constantly find myself trying to forget.

I wonder if this is how Nathaniel felt when I stole her from him years ago.

I wonder if it hurt just like this.

6

nathan

“Nathan, this is good. Really, really good.”

James, my Executive Assistant manager, smiles down at my screen, peering over my shoulder. Okay, he’s a little closer than necessary but I’m choosing to ignore that. I resist the urge to shift away.

What I did wasn’t anything spectacular, anyways. If only he knew I spent most of my morning answering emails and organizing data like some kind of digital butler.

Being an Administrative Assistant isn’t glamorous, but it’s steady. Secure. And in today’s world, that feels like something I shouldn’t complain about. Still… I can’t shake the gnawing feeling that my life is being swallowed whole by something I don’t even care about. There’s no excitement. No risk. But hey, the money’s decent. I guess.

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