「Samuel, I pay rent on this place too. Fine, you brought Tilda in without asking me. But now you won't even let me into my own room!」
I moved toward the door, and Samuel planted himself in front of it.
「Mavis, can you please stop making a scene?」
「Tilda and I both just got out of the hospital, and we got caught in the rain today. Instead of showing us a little concern, you want to steal Tilda's room out from under her!」
I actually laughed.
「You're patients? Then why aren't you in the hospital? Why didn't you take Tilda home? Why come to the apartment?」
「Samuel, you're the one who dragged Tilda right in front of me!」
I shoved past Samuel and reached for the door, but he clamped down hard on my wrist.
Then he threw me to the floor, breathing hard.
「Mavis, that's enough!」
「If Tilda can't rest and her condition flares up, you'll pay for it with your life!」
I hadn't braced for it, and the small of my back slammed into the wall.
It hurt so much the tears came anyway.
I looked up into Samuel's eyes, ugly with rage.
For the first time, it hit me that I had never really known him at all.
In my last life, he was always saying he was sick.
Forget carrying anything heavy. He'd make me hand him a bottle of water.
He couldn't lift heavy things, he said. He couldn't wear himself out.
But the way he'd just shoved me? Nothing about that looked like a sick man.
A low cough drifted out of the room.
Samuel pushed the door open and hurried inside.
Tilda was awake. She caught his hand and asked if she was the reason we'd fought.
「Sam, don't be angry with Mavis. She didn't mean it!」
Samuel soothed her in a gentle voice.
It made me sick. I pushed the door open, walked in, and started packing.
The sight of it stopped Samuel cold.
In a cold voice he asked, 「What are you doing?」
I shot him a look. 「You didn't want me in here, right? So I'm leaving. I'll clear out and give the two of you your space!」
「Mavis! Do you have to make everything sound like a jab?」
Tilda threw off the blanket and started to get out of bed, but Samuel pressed her back down.
「Ignore her. If she wants to throw a fit, let her!」
「Let's see how long she can keep it up!」
I packed a few things I wore often and took my documents.
On my way out, Samuel was spooning porridge into Tilda's mouth, one bite at a time.
Ha. How very tender of him.
I checked into a hotel near the office for the night.
The next morning at work, I went straight to my boss.
There was one overseas posting to Italy. It was so far away that no one at the company wanted it.
In my last life, my boss had come to me about it.
I'd studied Italian for a while in college, and she thought I was the best fit.
But Samuel had proposed, so I'd turned it down.
This time, I would not waste an opportunity that good on a useless man.
When I volunteered to go, she was thrilled.
「You really want to take the Italy posting? Your boyfriend doesn't mind?」
「We broke up!」
She studied me for a long moment, then slid a form across to me. 「Fill this out and turn it in. You can leave next week.」
Next week. A whole week left.
Enough time to pull myself out of Samuel's life for good.
I took the afternoon off and went back to the apartment I shared with him.
No one was home. I let myself in.
The kitchen sink was piled with dirty dishes, the table cluttered with takeout containers.
Dirty clothes heaped on the couch, the trash can overflowing.
A message came in from Samuel. 「Clean the place up when you get back from work.」
Still ordering me around like he always had.
In my last life, after Samuel and I got married, he was constantly making me do the work.
Fetch his tea, pour his water, rub his shoulders, knead his legs.
The slightest discomfort and he'd have me waiting on him.
And it didn't stop there. He came to me for money to cover his living expenses too.
He said it like he had every right. 「You think I want to ask you for money? It's only because I'm not healthy, I can't overexert myself!」
「If you don't give me money, you're forcing me to go to work! And if I work, I could die young. Mavis, is that what you want, to watch me die?」
I turned off the screen and walked straight to the room.
Let them clean up their own garbage.
Samuel and I had lived together for two years. This little rented apartment was full of nothing but memories of the two of us.
I still remembered when we'd first moved in, how he'd held me and said that once he made money someday,
he'd buy me a bigger place for sure.
We'd planned out the future, so excited about all of it.
When had it all started to change?
A year ago, when Tilda was diagnosed with kidney failure.
He started dropping me the second Tilda called.
He took the bone broth I'd simmered for two hours and gave it to Tilda to build up her strength.
The claw-machine plushies he and I had won together, he handed all of them to Tilda to cheer her up.
Deep in a drawer I dug out a photo of a little rabbit.
Samuel and I had won it at a ring-toss game a year earlier and kept it for three months.
Tilda said she wanted it, and Samuel took it to her without a word.
By the time I found out and rushed over, Tilda had already stewed the rabbit.
She sniffled and said she hadn't known it was a pet rabbit, that she'd thought it was for eating.
I sorted my things into two bags.
One to ship home, one for the trash.
Then I set the key on the entryway table and sent Samuel one last message.
【Samuel, let's break up!】
Blocked. Deleted.
This life, I was never wasting another minute on a useless man.
