Page 64 of Mine Again
No, it’s not the same.
But the ache is familiar. Too familiar.
There’s a beat of silence between us, and he picks at the edge of his napkin.
“I hate that I have to cut this short,” he says softly. “I have to be in Milan tomorrow morning. They want me there first thing to meet the regional director before he leaves for the holidays. I’m meant to take over in case of emergencies.”
Emergencies? In accounting? Over Christmas? Come on.
I don’t say it out loud, but I definitely think it.
“Oh.” It escapes before I can catch it.
“But I couldn’t leave without seeing you. I needed to tell you in person. You’ve been… wonderful, Isa. I really looked forward to getting to know you more.”
I nod, even though the words sting.
“It means a lot you came. And I get it. You can’t say no to something like that.”
He reaches across the table and brushes my hand. It’s brief, a flicker of contact, but it lights up a quiet ache all the same.
“If the timing were different…”
I offer a smile, aiming for polite but landing closer to tight.
“It’s okay. Really.”
We sip our drinks in silence, and all I can think is that another man is walking away.
Am I being dramatic? Absolutely.
And I know, logically, Andrea isn’t leaving me.
But it still feels like rejection, and rejection has a way of scraping open old wounds.
The sting sharpens into something sour.
It’s always the timing. The circumstance. The things I have no control over.
Argh!
They keep messing with my life like the universe is playing some cruel joke on me.
I hate being this powerless!
Dread fills me. Now I have to return to that horrible dating app to find someone new.
Dammit.
Andrea was so perfect in that sea of shirtless mirror selfies, unsolicited pet names, and flat-out weirdos. He was the one normal, decent guy in the entire digital dumpster fire. And now he’s moving. Just like that.
What have I done to deserve that, Universe?
Anger rises and fills the space where helplessness sat moments ago.
Good. I can work with anger.
Chapter Twenty-Three
