I stood, not waiting for another word from him. I didn’t want to hear it. The world seemed to tunnel, everything going a bit blurry around the edges as I made my way back through the maze of cubicles to my office. I surveyed the space. There was so little I wanted to take with me. Two framed photos sat on my desk. One of me, Bell, and Caelyn. The other of Harriet and me. There was a potted plant Bell had given me that I’d managed to keep alive for years. That was it. Nothing here spoke of the person I was. If you looked at this office, I might as well have been a mindless drone.

A burn surfaced at the back of my throat. That’s not who I wanted to be. I wanted to be a woman who saw beauty in the world around her and took the time to relish it. Someone who loved freely and without reservation. A person who wasn’t constantly afraid that the world would crumble away beneath her. But I had no idea how to step into that kind of existence.

I moved as quickly as I could, gathering up my meager belongings. The photos went in my purse, along with my personal laptop that had all of my records. I tucked the plant under my arm. As I made my way back through the building, people whispered. A few tried to stop me to talk, but I kept right on walking. I wasn’t truly friends with anyone here. They simply wanted the scoop on what had gone down, or maybe to complain about what an asshole Chris was. It wasn’t as if the man was well-liked.

I dumped all my belongings into the backseat of my Civic. At least my car was paid for. No one could take that away from me. I made the drive back to The Gables on autopilot, and when I parked in front of the guest house, I realized it was a miracle I’d made it back without getting in an accident.

I climbed out of my car but left all my stuff in the backseat. I’d deal with it later. Right now, I needed my comfiest sweats and to wrap myself in my coziest blanket. So, that’s precisely what I did. I curled myself in the overstuffed chair that had the best view of the ocean and simply stared out at the water. I watched the waves riot the way I wanted to, screaming at how unfair life could be. I lost myself in the rhythm of it all, trying to let it soothe all my frayed edges.