The result?
Julian just met my hopeful face with cold indifference.
"Babe."
"I know things have been getting a little better for us," he said, grabbing my hand and studying my nails. He shook his head in disapproval. "But the worst thing a person can do is forget where they came from."
"We can't start throwing money around just because life's gotten a little easier, right?"
"What if things get tough again someday? How would you adjust?"
"Babe." He pulled me into his arms. "I still like you best when you keep it simple."
Every ounce of hope in my heart turned to dust.
His words hit me like a bucket of ice water dumped over my head. I stood there, frozen, too stunned to even react. I just watched as he peeled the tiny rhinestones off my nails without a shred of hesitation.
"What's the point of flashy things that are all style and no substance?"
Right.
Flashy things.
All style and no substance.
But Lucille was draped in every flashy, insubstantial luxury money could buy, polished like a porcelain doll from another world entirely.
The laughable part? Every dollar spent decorating Lucille had come from the money I'd bled and sweated for over the years.
How was that fair?
The tears came despite my best efforts. I wiped them away hard and stared at Julian's name lighting up my phone again and again, relentless, until I finally hit accept.
"Babe?"
"You finally picked up!"
"Thank God!"
His voice came through, frantic.
"I've been looking everywhere for you! Where did you go? Whatever's going on, can we just talk about it face to face?"
"Maya, we've been together fifteen years!"
"Not fifteen days! You can't just disappear on me like—"
"Julian."
I swallowed the ache in my throat. My voice stayed level.
"Let's meet."
I gave him the address.
"The old house up north. I'll see you there."
Silence on the other end. He was clearly caught off guard.
A few seconds passed.
"Okay."
"Babe, I'm heading over right now." His voice brightened, relief and excitement bleeding through. "I'll grab those soup dumplings you love from that place and bring them along!"
Before I could refuse, he'd already hung up.
I turned and met Natalie's worried gaze.
"I'm fine."
I forced a smile.
"Don't worry."
It had been almost five years since Julian and I moved out of that house. I stood in front of the weathered, peeling door and remembered how, when we'd first moved here from that basement apartment, we'd decorated the place together, pouring our hearts into every detail.
Julian had said back then, "Babe, this is our first real home. It means something."
"When we're old, if you want, we'll come back here and retire."
"Every year, we'll come back and stay for a few days. How does that sound?"
Back then, I'd been so full of joy. I'd felt like my life was worth something.
Now, just a few years later, everything had changed.
I pushed open the door.
Julian was already on his feet, rising from the couch.
"Babe!"
He looked like a kid eager to show off a gold star, holding up the bag of soup dumplings and offering them to me.
"Still hot."
I used to always say I loved those soup dumplings. Loved that Julian would get up before dawn and stand in line to buy them for me.
Later, whenever I mentioned the soup dumplings, all I got was indifference.
"Maya."
"Time is money. You think I have the luxury of standing in some endless line just to buy you dumplings?"
Now here they were again, right in front of me. But somehow, they didn't look all that appetizing anymore.
"Julian."
I ignored his eagerness, walked past him, and sat down on the couch. The old cushions groaned beneath me. Nothing like Lucille's furniture.
