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It started with a message.
Just five words:17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLovC5UPsh
“Dinner? One last time. – A.”
Colleen stared at it for hours.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3iNQgeLiM
She didn’t owe him anything.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLIjWT8SKR
But something about the wording—“last time”—made her pause.
She said yes.
Not to rekindle anything. Not to reopen wounds.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQdKz5i9kc
But because some things needed to be put to rest over a table once shared, in a place where silence used to feel like comfort.
A Table for Two
He chose the apartment.
Of course he did.
He lit a candle. Set the plates.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcW7ci5uhQ
Tried to recreate a memory with trembling hands.
She arrived in black.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7bBgCbol7l
Not for mourning—but for armor.
The food was warm.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeE32QnGvB4
The air was not.
The first twenty minutes were filled with clinks of forks and awkward sips.
“You still hate mushrooms?” he asked, trying to sound light.
She gave a dry smile. “Always.”
They chewed in silence after that.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILXQA7XobU
The kind of silence that wasn’t empty—but screaming.
Outside, the wind howled.
The Blackout
The lights flickered.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSWcGSLbeJ
And then—darkness.
A clap of thunder made her jump. The rain began to pound, heavy and urgent.
“Well, that’s... fitting,” Andrei muttered, standing to grab a flashlight.
But she stopped him.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEcING4uGi
“No,” she said. “Leave it.”
So they sat, surrounded by shadow, the candle between them casting soft gold onto hard faces.
For the first time in months, they weren’t hiding behind schedules, silence, or pride.
Just two people. In the dark.
The Words That Broke Them
“I read the letters,” she said.
He looked up sharply.
“I didn’t expect them to hurt more than your cheating did,” she continued. “But they did. Because in them... I saw the man I fell in love with again. The one you buried.”
“I was scared,” he said. “Of being ordinary. Of becoming my father. Of losing you, even before I did.”
“You lost me the moment you lied to me with your eyes open,” she whispered.
His hand trembled. “I kept thinking I could fix it before you found out. But you did. And I couldn’t even blame you for walking away.”
“I didn’t walk away,” she said softly. “I crawled out.”
One Candle, One Truth
The rain softened.
“I don’t know what this dinner is supposed to be,” he said finally.
“It’s a funeral,” she replied. “For the life we planned.”
He flinched.
“And also…” she looked down at her hands, “maybe… a quiet goodbye to the versions of us that ruined it.”
For a long moment, the candle flickered between them.
Then he asked, “Would you ever consider… starting from nothing? Not now. Maybe not ever. But someday?”
She didn’t answer right away.
She stood up. Walked to the door.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAH6b6sbtn
Then paused.
“I don’t know. But thank you… for the honesty. Even if it came too late.”
She left him in the dark.
But this time, he didn’t feel abandoned.
He felt… understood.
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