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It started with a message.
Just five words:31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AV2M7fsCT
“Dinner? One last time. – A.”
Colleen stared at it for hours.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefbBQrS3V9
She didn’t owe him anything.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1o2RN1yUeV
But something about the wording—“last time”—made her pause.
She said yes.
Not to rekindle anything. Not to reopen wounds.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd97A6VOJnh
But because some things needed to be put to rest over a table once shared, in a place where silence used to feel like comfort.
A Table for Two
He chose the apartment.
Of course he did.
He lit a candle. Set the plates.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cTAV2J3qo
Tried to recreate a memory with trembling hands.
She arrived in black.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnj1G1Fb5h
Not for mourning—but for armor.
The food was warm.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbn0mKkYT1
The air was not.
The first twenty minutes were filled with clinks of forks and awkward sips.
“You still hate mushrooms?” he asked, trying to sound light.
She gave a dry smile. “Always.”
They chewed in silence after that.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr960Akkr7K
The kind of silence that wasn’t empty—but screaming.
Outside, the wind howled.
The Blackout
The lights flickered.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCUQJZzp1N
And then—darkness.
A clap of thunder made her jump. The rain began to pound, heavy and urgent.
“Well, that’s... fitting,” Andrei muttered, standing to grab a flashlight.
But she stopped him.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkfd2TTvYh
“No,” she said. “Leave it.”
So they sat, surrounded by shadow, the candle between them casting soft gold onto hard faces.
For the first time in months, they weren’t hiding behind schedules, silence, or pride.
Just two people. In the dark.
The Words That Broke Them
“I read the letters,” she said.
He looked up sharply.
“I didn’t expect them to hurt more than your cheating did,” she continued. “But they did. Because in them... I saw the man I fell in love with again. The one you buried.”
“I was scared,” he said. “Of being ordinary. Of becoming my father. Of losing you, even before I did.”
“You lost me the moment you lied to me with your eyes open,” she whispered.
His hand trembled. “I kept thinking I could fix it before you found out. But you did. And I couldn’t even blame you for walking away.”
“I didn’t walk away,” she said softly. “I crawled out.”
One Candle, One Truth
The rain softened.
“I don’t know what this dinner is supposed to be,” he said finally.
“It’s a funeral,” she replied. “For the life we planned.”
He flinched.
“And also…” she looked down at her hands, “maybe… a quiet goodbye to the versions of us that ruined it.”
For a long moment, the candle flickered between them.
Then he asked, “Would you ever consider… starting from nothing? Not now. Maybe not ever. But someday?”
She didn’t answer right away.
She stood up. Walked to the door.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQ8bVLrNbq
Then paused.
“I don’t know. But thank you… for the honesty. Even if it came too late.”
She left him in the dark.
But this time, he didn’t feel abandoned.
He felt… understood.
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