Ten years after the woman I loved vanished without a trace, she appeared on my doorstep with one final request. I thought her return would give me closure. Instead, it forced me to question everything I believed about why she left.
I met Cara during my first week of college, when she stole my seat in an overcrowded sociology lecture and refused to move.
She looked at my notebook, smiled, and said, “You can sit beside me, but only if your handwriting is useful.”
I sat down.
For three years, we were the couple people rolled their eyes at.
I did not know it yet, but I had fallen in love with her before the lecture ended.
For three years, we were the couple people rolled their eyes at. We studied together, cooked terrible pasta, and spent Sunday mornings arguing over crossword clues.
Cara wanted an old house with green shutters. I wanted a job that let me travel. Somehow, we believed both dreams could fit together.
Then, one night, we argued about nothing and everything.
“When do you picture us having children?”
I had been accepted into graduate school. Cara asked what came after. I talked about research, Europe, and maybe another degree.
She stood by the sink, gripping a dish towel.
“When do you picture us having children?” she asked.
I laughed nervously and shrugged.
“Not for years,” I said. “There’s too much I want to do first.”
I accused her of turning one conversation into a deadline.
