"So why are you avoiding me?”
"I thought you were the one avoiding me.” I protest.
His eyebrows draw down. “I’ve been home the last two days and I haven’t seen you.”
“Only because I’ve been busy. I’ve been working on this pitch and I need to get it right, and at the last minute, your father changed everything so I now have to rework it and—" To my horror, tears squeeze out again from the corners of my eyes. "Oh shoot." I turn my head and try to pull away from him, but he doesn’t let me. "Please, Isaac, let me go."
"No." He removes his arm from around me and pinches my chin. "It’s okay to show you’re vulnerable. It’s fine to share what you’re going through. You don’t always have to be strong for me, you know."
"Don’t I?" I rub the back of my palm across my nose. "You’re so busy chasing your muse, you haven’t exactly pulled your weight when it comes to paying the bills."
"That’s all you think of—paying the bills, cleaning the home, meeting the rent for the month."
"Well, someone has to," I snap.
"There you go, all passive-aggressive again. You clearly don’t have a single good word to say about me."
"I’m here, aren’t I?"
He pauses. "Do you not want to be with me? Is that it? Would you prefer to be with someone else, Lena?"
"What?" I gape at him. "What are you talking about?"
"You’re the one who’s implying that you’re doing me a favor by being here with me." His jaw hardens. "I know I haven’t been the best boyfriend, but if you have an issue with being with me, I’d rather you come out and say it than slyly hint about it."
"I’m doing no such thing." I wriggle in his grasp, and this time, he releases me. I pull away and rise to my feet. "Did you come to pick a fight, Isaac? Is that why you’re here?"
"I came to meet you because I missed you."
I stiffen.
"I do, Lena. I miss what we had. We said we’d always be there for the other, remember?"
I glance away, unable to reply. A ball the size of Earth seems to have lodged itself in my throat. I swallow but it does nothing to ease the pressure.
"Lena, you mean so much to me." He takes my hand in his.
I glance at the tiny tattoo on the back of my right wrist, the twin of which is on his left wrist. The tattoo of the outline of a swan. We’d been so happy that day watching the swans swim in The Regent’s Park. We’d rollerbladed in the park, eaten ice cream, read on the park bench, then napped on the grass. And we’d laughed so much. I’d been sure I’d found my soul mate. He must have felt the same way, for on our way back as we passed a tattoo shop in Camden Town, he’d pulled me in and surprised me with the tattoo on his wrist. To end a perfect day with the perfect girl, he’d said. In a burst of spontaneity, I’d asked for a twin of the tattoo. I’d been sure I’d end up with him for the rest of my life that day. Now, I’m not so sure.
"Do I?" I take a step back from him. "You have a funny way of showing it."
His gaze narrows. "What do you mean? Did I not accept the job with my father for you? Did I not come by here to check on you and see how you were doing?"
"You didn’t have to do that, and you didn’t have to oblige me by taking the job with your father for me. Do it because it’s going to help your career, Isaac. Don’t do it for me."
Isaac flexes his shoulders. He opens his mouth as if to say something, then shakes his head. "You know what? Forget it. I knew I shouldn’t have come here today. This is so pointless." He brushes past me and begins to walk away.
"Isaac." I race after him. "Isaac, stop, please."
He heads to the elevator and punches the button.
"Isaac, say something."
"What’s there to say, Lena? We can’t seem to have a simple conversation without arguing. All I wanted was to see you and say hi to my girlfriend. Instead, as usual, it’s turned into a shouting match."
"It wasn’t a shouting match. We have differences. It happens. It’s normal for a couple to go through ups and downs."
"We’ve been so down for so long, I can’t even remember what up is anymore."