Chapter 4
395 Words
Sebastian had no idea I had given up treatment.
He probably believed that I wouldn't make a fuss anymore, and that would be the end of it.
For days afterward, he didn't call again.
He had, however, become unusually active in the family thread.
The story had gone viral on social media—American sweethearts reunited.
The livestream clips and articles were forwarded into the chat by some relatives, garnished with all manner of praise.
Relative A: [Seb still has that boyish spark!]
Relative B: [Twenty years chasing a dream, how romantic!]
Relative C: [That Ms. Marlowe is so elegant. Truly two souls cut from the same cloth.]
Sebastian was basking in it. He was replying to every compliment with the air of a man on top of the world.
Halfway through the broadcast, the host suggested he share photographs from his twenty-year World Cup pilgrimage and tell the story of his "dream chase".
He agreed gladly and cast his phone screen onto the studio's display.
"I keep a cloud drive. My wife organized it for me. Every tournament's photos are in there." He smiled with a flicker of barely concealed pride.
It was true. I had organized that cloud drive. From the thousands of photographs he'd brought home, I had picked, sorted, named, and uploaded each one.
What he meant to show the audience were the scenic shots that captured his youth and his fervor.
But because of a sync delay, the most recently uploaded folder appeared abruptly at the very top of the screen.
The folder had a plain enough name:
Things for Sebastian to Look at When He Comes Home.
The host laughed. "Oh my, sounds like the missus has prepared a homecoming surprise for our dear Sebastian."
Someone in the family thread chimed in instantly. "Your wife is so thoughtful."
Sebastian laughed too, with the easy confidence of a man who had everything in hand, and clicked the folder open.
He must have expected a letter, or photographs of us when we were young.
What spread across the screen was no surprise at all. It was a list of cold, clinical filenames.
Pathology Report: Late-Stage Cancer.pdf
My Final Arrangements.docx
And one audio file:
If I Don't Make It Before You Come Home.
The studio fell into total silence.
On the screen, the smile on Sebastian's face froze for the first time.
- Writer
