“Karen.”
“No. That came out wrong.”
“It came out honest.”
She sighed.
“I don’t want to be another thing Daniel loses.”
Neither did I.
So we stopped.
For almost three months.
No coffee.
No texts except birthdays and practical things.
Second Chapter opened without me.
I saw photographs online.
Karen standing beneath the sign.
Karen holding giant scissors beside her sister.
Karen smiling in front of shelves.
Daniel wasn’t in any of the pictures.
Neither was Michael.
I wanted to be there.
I wasn’t.
Then one evening, Daniel appeared at my door.
He looked exhausted.
I let him in.
We sat on the couch.
For a while, neither of us said anything.
Finally he asked, “Have you seen her?”
“No.”
“Talked to her?”
“Not really.”
He nodded.
“You actually listened.”
“You asked me to.”
He looked down.
“I didn’t think you would.”
“That says something about your opinion of me.”
