Chapter 2
454 Words
The next morning, the air in our small apartment felt heavy, like something important was stuck. Liam made coffee, the sound of mugs clinking the only noise. He looked at me, a question in his eyes, but I looked away, pretending to stir my coffee very carefully.
He finally spoke. "You're quiet."
"Just thinking", I mumbled, my voice feeling wrong.
"About Europe?" he asked, sounding hopeful.
I took a deep breath, the coffee suddenly tasting bitter. "Liam", I started, and the single word felt like something breaking inside me."I... I don't think I can go."
His spoon stopped clinking. The silence that came next was so loud, made worse by the rain outside. He didn't yell or get mad. He just looked at me, his eyes, usually so kind, now showing confusion, then hurt.
"What do you mean, you can't go?" His voice was low, almost a whisper, as if he was afraid of making things worse.
"My business", I began, my excuse feeling thin and weak. "It's just now getting good. And... and I'm scared, Liam. Scared to leave everything, to be so far from home, to start all over. What if I mess up? What if I'm just unhappy?"
He walked to me, kneeling by my chair, his hand reaching for mine again. This time, I let him hold it. "But we'll be together, Anya. We'll make a new life , your photography can work anywhere. This is our chance, remember? Our dream."
And that's when the real, painful truth came out. "Is it our dream, Liam? Or is it your dream that I'm trying to squeeze myself into?"
His hand slowly let go of mine. His face, usually so open, became closed off. He stood up slowly, and with every inch he moved, the space between us grew. "So, you're saying... you don't want to come?"
"I'm saying," I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, tears blurring my eyes, "that maybe we're going on different paths. Maybe... maybe this is your chance to chase your biggest dream, without me holding you back."
He just stared at me, his jaw tight. I could see the confusion fighting with a deep sadness. He loved me, I knew that. But he also loved his dream. And I was asking him to pick, or rather, I was picking for him. It felt like I was hurting us, hurting everything we had. But staying, I realized, would hurt him, hurt the big future I saw in his eyes when he talked about buildings.
"You're... letting me go?" he finally asked, his voice barely heard over the loud rain.
And at that hard moment, I found the strength to nod. "Yes, Liam. I am."
- Writer
