The Last Time

Tough Love

The bell at the door of the cafe announced your arrival and Nelyn whipped around in her seat to wave you over to where she was. As you sat down, you noticed your favourite drink and your favourite chocolate cake already waiting for you.

"Is it smart to be eating cake before going lingerie shopping for your honeymoon?" you teased, just as Nelyn placed a piece of her own cake in her mouth.

"It's fine since we're not actually lingerie shopping today," Nelyn replied as she munched on her cake. "This meeting is about you."

"About me?" you asked curiously.

"Yes," she sighed, putting her fork down on the small plate. "Why are you divorcing Mark?"

With a sigh, you forked a chunk from your cake and shoved it in your mouth to avoid answering her question. But Nelyn was ever so patient, waiting with narrow eyes for you to finish. Knowing there was no way you'd get out of answering her, you thought you could at least delay it by asking her a question of your own. "Who ratted me out?"

"Is that even a question? Of course Jaebeom spoke to Jinyoung and Jinyoung informed me, like you should have, as my friend."

"Surely I can sue Jaebeom for a breach of confidentiality or something?" you snorted.

Grabbing your hand, Nelyn patted it sarcastically. "Sweetie, Jaebeom is your lawyer. He would never agree to suing himself."

"I should fire him."

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "A great idea so that you won't have to divorce Mark!"

"Wrong," you replied. "I'll just have to find a new lawyer and then I would still divorce Mark."

Nelyn threw you a hard stare and set her jaw. Crossing her arms, she leaned back in her seat, scrutinising you like she always did when she was about to scold you. Prompting you to be prepared with just a raise of her brow, you grabbed your drink and took a sip, just as she silently ordered. You've barely placed the cup back on the table before she pounced on you.

"Why?" she asked simply and you were in trouble. How could one word bring you close to tears already?

"It's not the same anymore," you sighed, staring at the table, too scared to look at your friend.

"So?" she laughed sarcastically. "Relationships are constantly changing, whether it's small or large and you knew this already. You need to come up with a better excuse. Try again."

Tears began to stream down your face. Nelyn was right. She always was. "It's different this time," you tried to explain through your sobs. "I... it feels like he doesn't love me anymore."

"That's bullshit and you know it. Mark loves you more than life itself," she chided and based on her tone, she wasn't done drowning you with her tough love. "Those excuses are lame as fuck. Try again."

"You're wrong," you countered as best you could. "If he still loved me, he wouldn't have agreed to this divorce so easily—"

"Mark agreed because he will always give you what you want — whatever will make you happy. But you are a terrible liar since you already know that you would be miserable without him."

"That's not true—"

"You and Mark have been together for over a decade and this is not the first time that you have gone through a rough patch," Nelyn reminded you before delivering her final blow. "I have never known you as a quitter. So, why are you giving up now?"

She might as well have slapped you on the face — her question instantly sobering you up. She was right. Again. Your relationship with Mark was never perfect and you loved that fact the most because it meant that your love was real. The journey may not have been a smooth one, but you both always came out stronger and better as a couple.

So, why were you giving up now?

"I'm scared," you finally admitted to her. "I'm scared that I'm right — that he doesn't love me anymore. At least not the way that he used to. I was scared that I was losing him. He'd never been so far away from me before. I'm scared that I'm not enough to bring him back."

Finally understanding you, Nelyn took both of your hands into hers, squeezing them gently to try and comfort you. "Trust me when I say this," she pleaded. "You've woken him up. Mark knows how you feel now and just like you, he's scared. But you know that he isn't going to give up. So, you shouldn't either."

"I hope you're right," you replied, squeezing her hands back as a sign that you would heed her words.

After spending the rest of the day with Nelyn, you arrived home much later than you anticipated. Walking through your home, you spotted Mark on the couch, playing some video games. The look of pure concentration on his face made you smile as you remembered all the times that you would spend reading next to him as he played.

His loud sigh broke you from your reverie, and you saw that the screen had turned black with red angry letters telling him that he wasn't victorious that time. Smiling, you walked over to the back of the couch, giggling when Mark flinched as you placed your hands on his shoulders to give him a quick massage.

"You're home," he hummed with his eyes closed, relaxing under your touch.

"I am," you bent down to give him a quick kiss on his cheek, surprising him again. "I'm sorry that I came home late. Nelyn and I lost track of time as we hung out."

"That's okay," Mark turned to smile at you. "There's some leftovers in the fridge if you haven't had dinner? Though, since you hung out with Nelyn, I'm sure that wouldn't be the case."

"You would be correct," you laughed. "I've already eaten. Come on, it's late. Let's wash up and go to bed."

Mark almost jumped up at your invitation but remembered the whole awkward ordeal that ensued during the week, in your en suite. "Why don't you go ahead?" Mark suggested, offering you some space. "I'll come up once you've finished in the bathroom."

Deep down, you knew why he did that. But, you remembered your promise to yourself. Mark had shown you that he had been trying so it was only fair that you tried too. "Don't be silly," you said, grabbing his hands pulling him up, thankful that he didn't fight you on it. "We can both wash up together. Come on, I'll even let you have one of my face masks."

Mark tried to remain calm. You could just be doing this because you were feeling extra nice though he hoped that it was more than that.

"Deal."