The End

Mary sat in the dimly lit room. The only source of light came from a lamp that was placed in the middle of the floor. The lamps glow reflected delicately off the pale blue paint on the walls.

She surveyed the room. The bookcase that once burst with books and photographs was now bare. She could almost see the outlines of where each worn out novel had sat just a few days ago. In the corner were stacks of boxes that she got from the liquor store. Words like “clothes, toiletries, books, and kitchen” were scrawled in her hand writing on the side of the boxes that once held Mount Gay’s Rum, Svedka Vodka, and Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch.

Her computer desk was disassembled and was resting so that it leaned partly blocking the doorway. The bed that she once shared had already been moved to her parent’s basement, and was now replaced by an air mattress that she would use just for tonight.

The room looked so strange and empty, but then again that’s how she had been feeling for the past month or so. Mary was brought back to focus when she heard a key turn in the door. She braced herself for what was coming. Her hands started to shake. Her eyes darted through the open door, her view being obscured by the desk.

Before she could see, Mary could hear the familiar footsteps. Each small thud was like a stab to her soul. Then came the familiar smell. His cologne always preceded him into a room, and always lingered long after he did.

“Hi.” said Paul, his head appearing through the vacant space in the door way.

“Hi” Mary responded, trying to control the spastic movement of her limbs.

“How’s the packing” he snarled, in a voice that unlike everything, else was unrecognizable to Mary.

“Don’t be like that” she said softly, standing up.

Paul looked at her for a moment. She was beautiful. The soft light of the lamp made her skin look like it was glowing. Her eyes sparked in the way her eyes always did when she had been crying.

“Be like what?” he responded. “I’m like nothing, that’s what you want me to be, anyways.”

“Paul, honestly!” she moaned. “You know it’s not like that. Things have changed and you know it.”

“Yeah things have changed. But that doesn’t make it bad. You did this to yourself. To us. All of it was your choice.” He moved in closer. “I didn’t want this for us. I wanted us to be happy.”

“I did too!” she cried. “I did too. But happiness is fleeting, it’s not permanent. Nothing’s permanent. We both learned that the hard way.”

Paul glared at her. His eyes looked black in this lighting. Mary though to herself that he looked like a wild animal before it pounced on its prey. She knew at this point there was nothing she could say to comfort him. She just sighed.

“I didn’t think you’d be here until later tonight.” She said, doing her best to sound casual, which was hard since her throat was still swollen from the fit of tears she had just minutes before he walked in. She hoped he couldn’t tell.

“I though you’d be here forever” he responded callously. He watched as the startled expression on her face turned into pure dejection and then again to anger.

“You can’t blame me for everything” she yelled, a little louder than she had meant to. “You know it wasn’t on purpose. Don’t you remember how upset I was after the whole thing? I didn’t get out of bed for a week. I punished myself”

She looked away. “I still am punishing myself” she whispered.

Paul looked remorseful for a split second. Then his face wound into the look of contempt that Mary was now so used to seeing.

“The only person you’re punishing is me. You are leaving me. You have deprived me. I could get over this. I could move on. But I need you for that to happen.”

Mary sighed again. “You act like this hasn’t hurt me. It has. Physically, emotionally. But I need to focus on myself now. I need to heal. I can’t save you, just like I couldn’t save her.”

Paul didn’t say a word. He turned his back. Mary stood in the middle of the room, tears flooding her face. He walked through the apartment, familiar foot steps echoing. She heard the door knob turn, the familiar creek of the door, the snap closed, and then nothing.

She turned to face the window. She breathed in deep, sucking in the smell of his cologne. The wind outside started to pickup. It sounded like a baby crying she thought. She sighed, sat back down, scanned the barren room.