And in the End...

Mike and I are over.

He came over to my apartment yesterday to end it in person.

“I’ve given this a lot of thought and I love you so much but I don’t think I can be with you anymore.” He said.

He was sitting forward in an armchair while I sat on my couch. I felt silly because I was still wearing my pajamas and remember looking down at my pink fluffy slippers and being embarrassed by them.

“Mike, we can work through this. We can see a counselor.”

“Maybe things would have been different if you’d told me sooner or if you’d just been the one to tell me in the first place but…I don’t trust you anymore, Faith. And I know you regret it and feel awful for hurting me but it doesn’t change the fact that you did. All the counseling in the world isn’t going to change that. It’s not going to change the fact that when I look at you…all I can see are images of you and him…together.”

Mike wiped away a tear that escaped from his eye and folded his hands. I looked at him and felt completely devastated.

“I…I love you.” I said meekly.

“I know.” He said sadly.

I held my hand out to him and he held it. We sat like that in silence for a long time.

“Okay,” I said sniffling and breaking my hand away from his; I wiped tears away from my eyes, “Okay.”

Mike and I both stood and I walked him to my door. I took a shaky breath. We stood there awkwardly.

“You got me through the worst time of my life, Faith. I wish I didn’t feel the way I do.”

I looked down at my stupid slippers so Mike wouldn’t see me cry again. He went to open the door but stopped.

“Do…do you know what my mom said to me as they were taking her to the operating room?” He asked.

I looked up at him and shook my head.

“She said that she knew I’d marry you someday and that she wanted me to use her wedding ring when I eventually proposed. Guess she couldn’t be right about everything, huh?”

We both shared a small laugh.

“Even the warmest and kindest of people can be wrong about their intuition, I guess.” I said sadly, “She underestimated how badly I could screw things up.” I joked through tears.

“Can…can I kiss you one last time?” He asked. He was blushing.

“Mike what did I tell you when we first started dating?” I asked, “You can kiss me whenever you want.”

He smiled at me and took my face in his hands before giving me a deep kiss that made my knees go weak. A tear ran down my cheek, when we broke apart he wiped it away.

“Bye, Faith.”

“Bye, Mike.”

And then he was gone. I miss him so much.