I had spent five years with Odessa, staunchly refusing to believe she was hiding our relationship just to keep her options open. But now that she was going to great lengths to distance herself from me, I had my answer. It was time for me to walk away.
“Soon,” I said. “Let me sort out my place first. I’ll leave as soon as I sell the house.”
Unexpectedly, Odessa returned to the ward in haste, claiming she needed her car keys.
“Sell? Who’s selling what?” she asked, pausing briefly to listen to a voice message.
The house we shared had been combined into one. Selling it would require separating the units again, but I hadn’t planned on hiding it from her.
However, she didn’t seem to catch my words, too immersed in listening to her voice messages. She grabbed her keys and casually said, “The doctor said you might have memory loss. I thought you really forgot everything.”
Her tone turned accusatory. “You didn’t give me a heads-up before showing up at the fireworks site. You know that gave me the feeling of being ambushed!”
Her bold deflection left me speechless.