53 Ganymede

Episode 35 - Promise

Everything is changing.

The trees lining the empty streets are a silent explosion of colour — fireworks in slow motion, their vibrant sparks scattering to the damp earth. Soon only skeletal frames will remain, a haunting reminder of recent beauty.

Claire tugs a mitten from her left hand and runs her fingers over the craggy bark of a towering oak as she passes. She walks slowly, glancing left and right, trying to memorize every tree, every house, every blade of dying grass. She inhales, the late autumn air stinging her lungs as she tries to hold all of these images within her, but she knows she must eventually exhale, letting go of this moment for the next.

When she enters the narrow bookshop, Mack greets her with a hug — a reminder that this hello is part of an even greater goodbye. He leads her to a short stack of books piled on his desk near the back of the store.

"I know the last thing you need is more to pack but..." He passes her the books and shrugs sheepishly, "I think you might like those."

Claire glances at the spines and grins, "Thank you, Mack."

They stand across from each other, awkwardly silent, each waiting for the other to give a signal — some sign as to how they are to progress from here. Claire smiles at the discomfort while Mack simply mumbles and glances at his feet.

"Is Marcus around?" Claire asks, not only as a means to break the silence, but also out of genuine concern. He wouldn't skip out on saying goodbye, would he?

Claire's heart sinks when Mack frowns. "He's been really busy, even I haven't seen him much this month."

"But he should be back soon," he adds quickly when he notices Claire's smile fading. "He's a bit of a chicken when it comes to talking about his feelings, but I don't think he'll let you go without saying goodbye."

With a nod and another thanks, Claire turns to leave.

"Don't tell him I said that. The chicken thing." Mack clears his throat and looks away, his eyes wide with exaggerated guilt.

"Don't worry," she says, giving him one final hug, "your secret is safe with me."

...

"Claire?" Art calls from the hallway as Claire slips in through the front door. "Do you have a minute?"

Claire wipes her feet on the rug and then follows her to the kitchen. There she finds Art leaning against the kitchen island and Sara standing beside the sink, staring out at the heavy grey clouds through the window there. Claire sets her books down on the island and slips onto a stool. Art sits across from her and begins fiddling with a stack of cloth napkins.

"We... we wanted to ask you something." Art looks to Sara for reassurance, but her wife's attention is elsewhere.

Claire waits, running through a list of possibilities that could have led to the tension in the atmosphere.

"Sara," Art calls, impatience bleeding into her voice.

"Hm?" Sara answers without looking away from the window.

"This was your idea, so the least you could do is help me with this." Art waves a hand toward Claire.

Did I forget to pay something? she wonders. Maybe there's some responsibility I've forgotten about? I've never rented an apartment before, is there some weird formality about leaving I don't know about?

Sara finally turns from the window and comes to sit beside her wife. "If I recall, you were the one who recommended her."

"Yeah," Art says, "but I also said there was no point in actually asking."