His First Love, My Last Goodbye novel · Chapter 8 of 24
Chapter 8: The Pen
"Who is he?" Matthias said.
He said it low and tight, with the papers crushed in one hand.
The receiving line had gone silent around them.
The chairwoman's smile had stopped halfway.
"There's no one," Esme said.
"Don't lie to me. Not here."
"There's no one, Matthias. There's only me, leaving."
A donor in the second row coughed into his fist.
Someone pretended to look for a coat.
"Three years," Matthias said. "Three years, and you hand me this in front of the board. You sit through her concert, and you hand me this."
"I waited until it was over."
"Is that supposed to be a kindness?"
"Yes."
His jaw worked.
His eyes went to her signature on the last page.
Then they came back to her face, searching it.
He would not find one.
She had made sure of it.
"Is this about the airport?" he said. "Is this what this is? I picked up a sick friend. A dying friend, Esme."
"I know what she is."
"She has months, and you--"
"I know exactly how long months are."
It came out sharper than she meant, and a small crease appeared between his eyebrows.
For a moment she saw him almost ask the right question.
Then Clarissa put a gloved hand on his sleeve.
"Matt," she said softly. "Let her go. She's angry, and she has every right. It's my fault. I should never have come."
"It's not your fault."
"I'll go back to the hotel tonight."
"No." He turned back to Esme, and the old quiet exactness came down over his face like a shutter. "You want this. Then you can have it. Is there a pen?"
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