Chapter 10 - Sofia Sent One Message and Then Disappeared
Nearly eight months after the office scene, Sofia sent me one final message.
No emergency.
No evidence.
Just an apology.
Lena,
I have spent months wanting to explain myself in a way that makes me sound less selfish. I don’t think that version exists.
I knew Dante was married.
I believed what made it easier to believe.
I’m sorry.
I won’t contact you again.
—Sofia
I read it twice.
Then deleted it.
Not because forgiveness had arrived.
Because I no longer needed the message.
Sofia moved to Los Angeles for work.
Dante confirmed nothing.
I did not ask.
That part of the story was over.
What remained was mine.
I had started sleeping better.
My apartment slowly stopped looking temporary.
I bought a dining table.
Smaller.
Round.
No seat at the head.
Maya laughed.
“Symbolic?”
“No.”
“It is.”
“Go home.”
She stayed for dinner.
My life became full in quieter ways.
Work.
Friends.
Yoga I hated but kept attending.
Sunday calls with my mother.
I dated once.
Terrible.
The man spent forty minutes explaining cryptocurrency.
I went home and laughed until I cried.
Dante dated nobody that I knew about.
Also not my business.
Then came our first anniversary after separation.
Five years plus one.
I woke expecting pain.
Mostly I felt hungry.
I went to Bellini’s with Maya.
That was deliberate.
I refused to surrender the restaurant.
We ordered the same pasta Dante and I once shared.
Maya raised her glass.
“To better anniversaries.”
I smiled.
“To ordinary Tuesdays.”
Halfway through dinner, the owner recognized me.
He asked:
“Where’s Dante?”
I paused.
“We’re not together anymore.”
His face fell.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
Then he brought tiramisu anyway.
On the plate, written in chocolate:
For Lena.
Not “for the couple.”
Not “happy anniversary.”
Just my name.
I stared at it longer than necessary.
For years, I had understood myself partly through being Lena-and-Dante.
May you like
That night, dessert arrived for Lena.
It felt surprisingly good.
