Far Apart, Never to Meet Again

1
Ten years together, and for the third time, my lawyer girlfriend Aria canceled our city hall appointment for a critical case.
Minutes later, I saw her childhood friend Leo post a photo of their marriage certificate, captioned: After all this time, it was always you.
As confused messages poured in, I replied publicly: Dont forget to invite me to the baby shower. Ill chip in five grand.
Instantly, his post disappeared. Aria called, furious: Leo posted that by mistake. Hes never been married beforeI was just helping him as his lawyer. Its just a piece of paper, Alex. Youre blowing this up for no reason.
She demanded I apologize, promising wed get our license once Leo healed from his divorce. She didnt realize this was her 67th empty promise to meand the last.
I hung up, resigned from my job, and decided to disappear from the life we were supposed to build.
She called back. A dozen times. I ignored every one.
Finally, a text message buzzed through, dripping with fury:
"Alex, have you lost your mind? How dare you hang up on me? You're the one who screwed up, and you're acting like you have the moral high ground?"
"You have five minutes to post that apology, or we're through."
Ten years together. I'd heard that threat a hundred times. And every time, I was the one to cave, to smooth things over, to beg for forgiveness. This was the first time Id ever just hung up.
When I didn't respond, she went to her social media and started her usual countdown. It was a rule shed made years ago: three days of silence meant we were officially over. My devotion had made her fearless. Every argument, every disagreement, ended with her posting that countdown, a public clock ticking down on my anxiety, pressuring me to fold.
For ten years, it had been her perfect weapon. And every time, just before the clock ran out, Id break.
But not this time. I was exhausted. I was done being her fool.
Shortly after her countdown post went up, Leo posted something too, tagging me specifically.
"Just a little prank with Aria that accidentally went public. I didn't realize Alex would take it so hard. I guess I'll have to be more careful what I say around him from now on. Wouldn't want him to get upset again."
Aria, who rarely ever glanced at her feed, was the first to like it. She even commented:
"That's his problem, Leo, don't you dare blame yourself. And why should it be private? If you want to post something, you post it."
"His problem" was me, obviously. Our so-called friends, the ones who relied on Aria for legal work, all chimed in with likes and supportive comments.
"Wow, Alex is being so petty. Leo, don't let a guy like that get you down."
"No wonder Aria won't marry him. I'd hesitate too if he were that insecure."
A bitter laugh escaped my lips. She would bend over backward to protect Leo from the slightest discomfort, to defend his name. But for me, her boyfriend of a decade, there was only neglect and indifference.
Leo could sneeze, and she would drop everything, including our plans to get married. If I dared to complain, shed explode, accusing me of disrespecting her freedom, of being small-minded.
And now, when I finally chose to let go and congratulate them, she was the one hurling accusations, using her countdown to force me into an apology.
The truth was, it was never about right or wrong. The scales of her love had tipped long ago.
"Sir," the clerk said, her voice soft with pity, "the woman whose ID you've provided is already legally married. Would you like to submit a different application?"
I took the ID from her and managed a weak smile. "Maybe I should."
The young couple behind me cheered quietly at my withdrawal. Of course, it was the most popular wedding date of the year, and getting an appointment at City Hall was nearly impossible. I had shown up at dawn just to get a spot in line.
Now, I looked at the application form in my handsthe 67th one Id filled out, for the 67th chance Id given herand without a second thought, I ripped it to shreds and dropped it in the trash.
Every time, it was the same. Id arrive early, filled with hope, watching the happy couples go in and out, waiting for her. And every time, just minutes before our appointment, she would call. An emergency at the firm.
When I'd question it, she'd use her clients as a shield.
"Alex, my clients' lives are on the line! Are you seriously asking me to abandon them for a piece of paper? How can you be so selfish?"
She always said it with such righteous indignation, as if I were the villain.
What she didn't know was that every time she ditched me for Leo, hed send me a little text, a little jab to twist the knife.
"Aria's cooking is amazing. Bet you've never had it, have you?"
"I mentioned I was tired of walking today, so Aria just bought me a brand new luxury car. You're still taking the subway, right?"
And now, shed gone and gotten a marriage license with him.
It was time for our relationship to finally end.
2
As I stepped out of City Hall, I saw the notification on my phone. My resignation request had been rejected.
HR informed me that Aria hadn't been in the office for days and couldn't approve it. They gave me an address and told me to find her myself.
Gritting my teeth, I went. I just wanted this to be over.
The address was a high-end pool hall. A place Leo loved. Aria, the woman who lived and breathed for her work, had apparently been skipping the office for days to hang out with him.
I found them at a table in the back. Leo was leaning over her, his body pressed against hers, "teaching" her how to shoot. The moment he saw me, a smirk played on his lips.
A few of our colleagues from the firm, Leos little sycophants, sauntered over, nudging each other.
"Well, well, look who's here for our dear Ms. Aria."
"Told you. That three-day countdown wouldn't even last one. He's already back to groveling."
"Damn, Aria's got him wrapped around her finger. One word and he comes running."
"Alright, alright, pay up. You all lost the bet."
I felt a familiar tightening in my jaw. I'd heard their jeers a thousand times before. But today, it grated on me like never before.
"I'm not here to make up."
My words were met with a burst of laughter. "Sure, Alex. We all know you're Aria's ultimate lapdog. You couldn't leave if you tried."
Ignoring them, I walked straight to her and held out the papers. "Aria. Sign these."
She reached for the file, but Leo nudged her knee with his own. "Focus on the game," he murmured.
Instantly, she dropped the file. She reached into Leos pocket, pulled out her personal seala custom stamp she used for official documentsand tossed it to me.
"Just stamp it yourself. And in the future, don't come here and interrupt my lessons with Leo."
Aria was fiercely private. Her safe was off-limits. She'd shield her phone's PIN from my view. And her personal seal? She guarded it like a state secret.
Yet here she was, letting Leo carry it in his pocket. She was so wrapped up in her "date" that she couldn't even be bothered to look at a company document.
I clutched the stamped resignation form, my knuckles white. My heart felt like a cavern, hollow and cold.
I turned to leave, but her voice stopped me. "Leo's a bit busy these days. You can handle his caseload for him."
She tossed a thick stack of files onto a nearby table. Each one had nothing but a title scrawled on the cover.
I couldn't even count how many times shed made me do Leos work. Every time I completed a case, he took the credit. But if I made a single mistake under the crushing workload, the blame was all mine.
There were times Id lost my temper, refused to do it. Shed accuse me of letting her down, of not caring about her or the firm. Shed threaten to do it all herself, and my concern for her, my desire to ease her burden, always led me back to compromise.
All that sacrifice had earned me was her contempt, her casual dismissal, her entitlement to my labor.
But I was free now. The firm was no longer my problem.
"No. I've already resi"
"Aria," Leo's voice cut in, thick with feigned hurt. "It's okay. If Alex doesn't want to do it, I can manage."
Arias expression immediately softened with pity for him. "You just went through a divorce. How can you be expected to work when you're feeling down? Don't be silly. Go have fun."
She turned back to me, her voice turning to ice. "Don't you get it? Your little stunt on social media already upset Leo. This is your chance to make up for it, and you're refusing? Keep this up, and in three days, you could be on your knees begging, and I still wouldn't take you back."
I almost laughed. My mother had died unexpectedly. I was so wracked with grief Id fainted multiple times. All Aria had said then was, "When you're done crying, be at the office on time. There's work to be done."
But Leo? His divorce was two years ago, and he was still using it as an excuse to skip work.
"Fine by me. We don't have to get back together."
I spun on my heel and walked away. The shock on Aria's face was unmistakable.
Our colleagues were stunned. "Is he actually leaving?"
Leo just chuckled. "Come on, Alex. No need to play hard to get. If you don't want to do the work, just say so."
At his words, the tension in Aria's face melted away, replaced by her usual confident smirk. Her tone softened. "Alright, Alex. I know I've been neglecting you lately. Be a good boy and finish Leo's work, and in three days, I promise, we'll go get our license. How does that sound?"
The same empty promises. The same carrot dangled in front of my face. But this time, I had no appetite for it.
I didn't answer. I just kept walking.
Behind me, the taunts started up again. "What a show. Just you wait. By tomorrow, he'll be back, begging for another chance."
A wicked thought sparked in my mind. I wanted to see the looks on their faces when they lost their little bet for good.
I let out a short, sharp laugh and glanced back at them over my shoulder.
"Yeah? Don't hold your breath."
3
With my resignation finalized, I went straight to my best friend's firm. In the legal world, a lawyer's reputation follows them, not the firm they work for. As a top-tier litigator, my friend Mark was so thrilled to have me that he practically offered to shine my shoes.
He gave me a salary ten times what Aria had paid me and threw in a villa as a signing bonus. Finally, I could move out of that dilapidated apartment.
I'd lost track of how many clients had looked surprised when they found out where I lived. A "star lawyer" in a place like that. I always brushed it off, saying I was a simple guy who didn't care about material things.
The truth was, Id willingly accepted a junior-level salary so Aria's firm could grow. In the beginning, she was grateful. Over time, it became an expectation. One winter, the heating broke. When I asked Aria for some money to replace it, she called me extravagant, accused me of changing, of only being after her money.
Yet for Leo, shed buy a mansion on a whim. Even his dog's house had central heating.
On moving day, I ran into Aria and Leo. They were with her parents, the four of them enjoying a cozy family dinner at a fancy restaurant.
I froze. A memory flashed in my mind: the first time I met her parents. I had arrived with armfuls of expensive gifts. They served me a table full of leftovers. I awkwardly suggested we all go out to eat, my treat. They scoffed, saying I didn't earn much but had already picked up wasteful habits. In the end, I cooked a full meal for everyone. As soon as I set the food down, Aria's mother slammed her chopsticks on the table, complaining my food was too salty. "Only peasants who do manual labor eat this salty," she'd sneered. "I guess that makes sense, coming from a peasant's son." The gifts I brought them? I later saw the building's janitor carrying them all home.
Compared to this happy little family scene, I felt like a complete clown.
Aria's parents were fawning over Leo, piling food onto his plate.
"Leo, you and our Aria are just perfect for each other," her mother cooed. "If that other woman hadn't tricked you back then, you two would never have missed your chance. I think the timing is perfect now. You two should just get together."
Her father chimed in, "Exactly! Leo landed several huge clients for Aria the moment he joined the firm. His future is limitless. Not like that useless Alex. All he's good for is cooking and cleaning. Completely worthless."
Rage trembled through my body. I was the one who landed those clients. Aria had just credited them to Leo's name. The money I brought in single-handedly kept that firm afloat. But Aria had never once praised me. Instead, she constantly belittled me, saying it was only because of the platform her firm gave me that I had any work at all.
And now, faced with her parents' slander, she said nothing to defend me. She just sighed. "Well, we've been together for so long. I guess I'll just make do."
My heart plummeted into an icy abyss. All these years, to her, I was just someone to "make do" with.
Her mother, however, was not satisfied. "Aria, let me tell you, that Alex is bad luck. Cursed. Just look at how his parents died so young. Marrying him will bring you nothing but misery."
Aria didn't respond, but tears were already streaming down my face.
My parents died because of hers. Years ago, Aria's parents were in a car crash and needed massive blood transfusions. My parents were a match. They gave and gave, but it wasn't enough. Aria was a wreck, sobbing uncontrollably. Knowing how much I loved her, my parents went back, behind my back, and gave more, pushing their bodies past the absolute limit.
Aria's parents were saved. Mine were gone.
For a while, her family felt a sliver of guilt. They promised to make it up to me, to take care of me. That compensation never came. Instead, I became the "cursed" one they spoke of with disdain.
I couldn't stand to listen to another word. I turned to leave.
4
But Leo spotted me. "Well, look who it is. If it isn't Alex."
The three of them turned to look. The moment she saw me, Aria instinctively pulled her hand away from Leo's grasp.
"Alex? What are you doing here?"
Leo spoke, his tone deceptively casual. "Wow, Aria, he's really dedicated. Everywhere you go, he just happens to show up. You don't think he put a tracker on you, do you?" He then turned to me, a picture of innocence. "Oh, hey Alex, don't get the wrong idea. Aria and I are just like family. Her parents are like my own. We get together like this all the time. If it bothers you, I can leave right now."
"Don't you dare," Aria snapped, grabbing his arm. She glared at me, her eyes spitting fire. "Alex, there's a mountain of work at the office, and you're here stalking me? Have you lost your mind?"
"Are you ever going to stop being so paranoid? Get back to the firm right now. And on your way, stop by HR and accept your penalty. You're forfeiting your pay for today and your bonus for the month."
Her parents jumped in to support her. "Aria, why do you even keep a parasite like him around? Just fire him. You're too soft. How do you expect a star employee like Leo to feel valued when you tolerate this kind of behavior?"
Leo, playing the part of the magnanimous hero, added, "It's really no big deal. I don't mind cleaning up Alex's messes. But Alex, you're not getting any younger. What will you do if you lose this job? Just apologize to Aria. Stop being so stubborn."
Her parents praised him for his kindness and maturity. Aria's gaze on me grew colder, more disgusted.
"What are you still standing there for? Get back to work. And let me tell you, if I don't see you at your desk by the end of the day, then when the countdown ends tonight, don't even bother trying to make up. We'll be over for good."
With that, she and her "family" paid the bill and left.
Later that evening, just before closing time, Aria made a point of swinging by the office. She saw my desk was empty. I really hadn't come back. Furious, she stormed out and went straight to a bar, deliberately having a colleague "casually" leak her location to me.
I saw the messages. I ignored them all.
Eleven o'clock.
The day was almost over.
Aria had downed a stomachful of booze, but the agitation in her heart refused to settle. She kept glancing at the door to their private room, her body tensing every time it opened.
Many people came and went. None of them were me.
Her phone was silent, as if it were broken. She even had her assistant check it. When confirmed it was working perfectly, her mood sank to a new low. She was so used to me catering to her every whim. This sudden drop-off was a shock to her system.
She looked at her phone's lock screena photo of us. It was a candid shot she'd taken right after our first kiss. A faint smile touched her lips.
In the end, she couldn't resist. She sent me a text.
"Alex, don't say I didn't warn you. The three days are almost up."
The message was met with deafening silence.
Aria's brow furrowed. The noisy room seemed to quiet down around her, chilled by the cold aura she was emitting. The air grew thick, and everyone's breathing became shallow, careful.
Suddenly, the door to the room swung open. The sound made everyone look up.
A colleague burst in, breathless and beaming. "He's here, Ms. Aria! He's downstairs!"
"And he's all dressed up! He looks incredible. You have to go see!"
The tension in Aria's face instantly dissolved. She leaned back against the sofa, a triumphant, arrogant smile spreading across her face.
"Go tell him he's late," she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "It's one minute past midnight. Getting back together won't be that easy."

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