Caleb continued.
“You could have screamed at me.”
“I tried talking.”
“You could have demanded counseling.”
“You always said you were busy.”
“You could have left me.”
“I didn’t want to leave you.”
Caleb’s expression changed.
“That might be the cruelest thing you’ve said.”
Nia looked up.
“What?”
“You didn’t want to leave me.”
He shook his head.
“So you wanted me here paying bills, building a future, believing I had a wife who loved me while you waited for Mondays?”
Nia’s face fell.
“That isn’t fair.”
Caleb stared at her in disbelief.
“Fair?”
“I loved you.”
“Loved?”
“I love you.”
Caleb stepped backward as though the word itself offended him.
“No.”
“It’s true.”
“No, Nia.”
“I made a terrible mistake.”
“A mistake happens once.”
Caleb’s eyes hardened.
“Four or five times is a schedule.”
Silence.
Nia lowered her head.
Caleb looked at his wedding ring.
For the first time in nine years, it felt heavy.
“Did you ever bring him here while I was sleeping upstairs?”
“No.”
“Did you ever message him while you were lying next to me?”
Nia didn’t answer.
Caleb nodded.
“Okay.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“You keep saying variations of that sentence.”
“Because you’re imagining something worse than it was.”
Caleb stared at her.
“I found another man in my house less than an hour after I kissed my wife goodbye.”
Nia became silent.
“I don’t need imagination.”
Caleb went upstairs.
Nia followed him to the bedroom.
“What are you doing?”
He pulled a suitcase from the closet.
Nia panicked.
“Caleb.”
“I need to get out.”
“This is your house too.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t leave.”
He began throwing clothes into the suitcase.
Nia stood in front of the closet.
“Please.”
Caleb ignored her.
“We can talk.”
“We just did.”
“That can’t be it.”
Caleb stopped packing.
“What did you think would happen?”
“I don’t know.”
“You had three months to think about it.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“You were thinking enough to wait until my car disappeared.”
Nia flinched.
Caleb zipped the suitcase.
She grabbed his arm.
“Please don’t go.”
Caleb looked down at her hand.
Nia released him.
“I need one chance to explain.”
“You explained.”
“No. I mean really explain.”
Caleb picked up the suitcase.
“I don’t need more details today.”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can I call you?”
Caleb walked toward the door.
“Please don’t.”
“Caleb…”
He stopped.
For one second, Nia saw the man who had stood across from her at their wedding.
Heartbroken.