Dear Hubby, Bro & BFF. You All Watched Me Break? Now Watch Me Leave Chapter 05
In the cab, I rolled the window halfway down and let the night air blow across the wounds on the back of my hand.
I took out my phone and opened the recording app that had been running in the background. When I pressed stop, the timer read five minutes and thirteen seconds.
Paige’s words, her laughter, the click of the lock, and Colin’s silence were all there.
I wasn’t shaking anymore. The fear had burned itself out during those five minutes, taking everything else with it.
The love, the hope, the lingering attachment—all of it was gone.
I stared at the recording on the screen for two seconds, then closed the app and set my phone on my lap.
The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror.
“Miss, your hand’s bleeding.”
I looked down. Blood was running between my fingers and dripping onto my purse.
“I’m fine.”
I took out a tissue and pressed it against the wound.
Cool air poured through the open window, and I could finally breathe. For the first time that night, I felt like I could breathe normally again.
The cab stopped outside my apartment building.
—
I looked up at the fourteenth floor. The living room lights were on, but whether Colin had come home no longer mattered.
I couldn’t take the elevator, so I climbed the stairs to the fourteenth floor, just as I had every day for the past three years.
Tonight, though, I wasn’t thinking about fear.
Instead, I was making a list: bank cards, state ID, passport, drawing board, drawing tablet, charger—
What did I absolutely need to take, and what could I leave behind?
I climbed one floor at a time, my breathing even, my steps steady, and my heartbeat calm.
Once I had made my decision, there was nothing left to panic over.
…
When my alarm went off Monday morning, I rolled over and reached for the other side of the bed.
It was empty.
“Natalie, what do you want for breakfast?”
No one answered.
I got up and went into the bathroom. Only my toothbrush remained in the holder, and her cup was gone.
When I opened her side of the closet, more than half of it was empty. The only things left were the dresses I had bought for her that she never wore.
—
Her drawing board and paints were gone from the home office, along with her drawing tablet.
I stopped in front of the vanity.
Her wedding ring lay beside the lamp. Next to it was a business card.
Hartwell & Cole. Family Law.
I stared at the ring for a moment, then gave a short laugh.
Here we go again.
The last time we argued, she had taken off her ring, too. By the next morning, she had put it back on herself.
I picked up my phone and called her.
“The number you have dialed is no longer in service.”
I tried again and got the same recording.
My text messages wouldn’t go through either.
I scrolled through my contacts and called Derek.
“Derek, is Natalie with you?”
He was silent for several seconds.
“She texted me that she wanted a divorce, then blocked me, too.”
My temple throbbed.
“What do you mean, too?”
His voice turned cold.
—
“Colin, how did you fail to keep her in line again?”
“What are you talking about? I’ve been—”
He hung up.
Half an hour later, Derek called back.
“Colin, I’ve thought about it. She’s just being dramatic.”
“You two had a minor argument, and she ran away? She’s thirty years old. How is this any different from some teenager storming out of the house?”
I didn’t respond.
“Don’t indulge her. She’s been like this since she was a kid. The second she doesn’t get her way, she hides somewhere and waits for everyone to come running. Ignore her for a couple of days, and she’ll come home on her own.”
“And don’t let her actually drag a lawyer into this. It’s embarrassing. People will hear about it and assume you abused her.”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“Derek, I think she’s serious this time—”
“Serious? About what?”
He gave a cold snort.
“She can barely leave the house. How is she supposed to survive without you? Once she realizes she can’t make it on her own, she’ll fall in line and come home.”
—
After the call ended, I stood alone in the living room.
He was right. She couldn’t even take an elevator. Where could she possibly go without me?
I put down my phone and waited.
When I contacted her editor, I was told, “Natalie wrapped up all her current projects last week, and we’ve already sent her final payments.”
One of her few friends said, “She mentioned wanting to move to another city, but I thought it was just talk—”
She hadn’t decided to leave on the spur of the moment.
She had been planning it for a while.
Paige called me just then.
“Colin! Why did Natalie block me? Her number’s disconnected, too! I knew something was off when she left the party last week. I told you the Fear Room was a bad idea, but she agreed to go in!”
I hung up without answering.
Standing in the hallway, I found myself staring at the storage room door.
The lock I had installed was still there.
I remembered the day Natalie came out of that room. She hadn’t cried or made a scene. She had only looked at me.
At the time, I thought her calmness meant the treatment was working.
—
Now I understood.
She hadn’t been calm. She had given up on me.
I called the number on the attorney’s business card.
“Hello. Does your firm represent a client named Natalie Foster?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t disclose information about a client.”
The attorney paused.
“If you’re the other party in the matter, you should receive formal legal papers soon. I suggest you prepare accordingly.”