Before he could argue, I pushed him out of the study and shut the door behind him. The slam echoed in the quiet room. I stood there for a moment, staring out at the dark night, feeling the weight of everything. Sleep wasn’t coming tonight.
On day six of my breakup countdown, Mason left early. He sent a short message, as if it were routine, [I’m heading to Alderhaven for a six-day business trip. Wait for me to come home.]
Perfect timing. We were both exhausted with each other anyway. Leaving without a goodbye seemed fitting.
On day five, I posted a guide about going abroad on Instagram, feeling a strange sense of finality. Then, a notification popped up—people you may know. Among the suggestions was an account named “Naomi.” Her latest post from the night before was captioned, [Teenage dreams come true.]
I didn’t even need to think twice to know what she meant.
The Instagram post was tagged in Alderhaven and it hit me—Alderhaven was Mason’s hometown.
On the fourth day of my breakup countdown, I stared at the clutter I had accumulated over five years. Exhausted, I called a moving company to help pack everything.