I Went to Return My Neighbor’s Pliers – When He Opened the Door, My Legs Gave Out and I Shouted, ‘What Does It All Mean?!’

“I used to live with someone too, Simone.”

“The woman in the photo?”

He nodded.

“What happened to her?”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, swallowing.

He nodded again, and I looked down at my hands. They were trembling, still.

“I don’t think Benjamin’s going to leave me,” I whispered.

“Not in the divorce sense. But he has left nonetheless… quietly.

Over the years. You get me?”

Jake walked over and sat on the floor across from me, leaning back against the cabinet.

“Sometimes people don’t leave because they don’t care,” he said. “They just don’t know how to stay.”

That cracked something open in me.

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