In his small new apartment, Lucas sat on the edge of the single bed and gazed at the partially opened box of framed pictures. The kitchen smelled of fresh paint, the walls were blank, and the silence—this new, empty quiet—came to him like a second skin.
He had left the house without crying. He hadn't even turned around.
A pang of loss, however, struck him squarely in the chest in the silence. For the boy he still considered his son, as well as for the life he was leaving behind. And even when everything else was falling apart, the woman he had once thought would pick him.
The telephone rang. It was Hope.
Hope, Pierce: "I wanted to check in. How are you doing?"
After a prolonged period of staring at the message, Lucas typed back:
Lucas: Not very good. Is it possible for us to meet?
Later that night, Lucas was in a small wine bar in the middle of the city, across from Hope. She gave him a quick, sincere smile that didn't require an explanation. She heard him talk about the move, about Jason, about how everything fell apart so quickly that he could hardly identify the pieces.
The words were bitter on his tongue as he confessed, "I feel like a placeholder." She held on to him at all times. Michael.
Over the rim of her glass, Hope studied him while sipping her wine. "Perhaps. Or perhaps she's still getting to know herself.
Lucas laughed without humor. "That's very kind of you."
She said softly, "No." It's simply truthful. Not everyone makes the right decisions for the right reasons. does not imply that they intended to harm you.
For a brief moment, something warm that Lucas hadn't experienced in a long time moved between them as their eyes met. pressure-free comfort. A place where he didn't have to act like everything was fine.
He didn't want to say goodbye when he escorted her to her vehicle later that evening. So when Hope turned around and asked, "Want to get coffee this week again?" —without hesitation.
"Yes," he replied. "That would be nice."
It wasn't a fresh start. Not just yet.
However, it was something.
And that was sufficient for now.