Chapter 3
Series 1 Chapter 3
(Mark’s POV)
On my way home, I picked up an apple pie.
Jo loved desserts from that bakery.
I figured if I stayed up to have breakfast with her tomorrow and promised to take her out over the weekend, she wouldn't hold it against me for coming home so late tonight.
When I unlocked the door, the apartment was pitch black.
“Jo, I’m home.”
No answer.
I set the paper bag on the dining table. The cake was still there, the slice in front of her place setting barely touched.
It was already past midnight.
I had promised her I’d be gone for an hour at most.
I pushed open the bedroom door, planning to wrap my arms around her from behind.
The bed was empty.
The bathroom was empty, too.
“Jo?”
I flipped on the hallway light and dialed her number.
It rang until it went straight to voicemail.
She never stayed out this late by herself.
When I walked back to the living room to grab my car keys, I finally spotted the card on the table.
Her wedding ring was resting on top of it.
I picked it up, revealing the single line of handwriting underneath.
“I went to that restaurant tonight.”
I stared at it, the hum of the refrigerator the only sound left in my ears.
She saw us.
Where was she standing when I put that necklace on Amy?
Was she watching from outside when I kissed Amy?
She had called me.
And I had declined it.
At the time, I even felt annoyed, thinking she was calling at an inconvenient moment.
I dialed her number again, walked back into the bedroom, and yanked open the closet doors.
A few hangers were bare. The coat she usually wore was gone, and so was her laptop.
The travel journal on the nightstand was missing.
The spot where her suitcase usually sat was empty.
She hadn't just gone out to clear her head.
She had carefully packed everything she needed, taken off her ring, and turned off the lights before leaving.
And the entire time she was doing all that, I was with another woman.
I opened our chat box.
“It’s not what you think.”
I typed it out, then deleted it word by word.
She saw it with her own eyes. What part of it could I possibly spin as a misunderstanding?
In the end, I sent only one sentence.
“Just tell me where you are, please.”
No reply.
I dug out her sister’s number and dialed.
“Is Jo with you?”
“She’s safe,” her sister replied coldly.
I leaned heavily against the edge of the table, finally letting out a breath.
“Let me talk to her.”
“She doesn't want to talk to you.”
“I’m coming over right now.”
“Mark, don't make tonight any harder for her than it already is.”
The line went dead.
I grabbed my keys and walked to the front door, but I couldn't bring myself to open it.
What would I even do if I went over there?
When she asked me why, what could I possibly say?
I remembered our anniversary. I remembered every promise I made when we got married.
I had simply assumed that no matter how late I came back, she would always be waiting for me.
My phone lit up.
A text from Amy: “Did you get home safe?”
I exited the chat and scrolled up through my history with Jo.
“I saved some food for you.”
“It’s raining, drive carefully.”
“Can you come home a little earlier tonight?”
Some of those messages I replied to hours later. Some I never replied to at all.
Until tonight, when she finally stopped asking.
I sat down and opened the paper bag with the apple pie.
It was already cold.
To think I had actually hoped to use this to buy a "It’s okay" from her.
2:00 AM, 3:00 AM, 5:00 AM.
Holding her wedding ring, I called her number over and over again.
As daylight broke, the call went straight to voicemail.
“Hi, this is Jo. Please leave a message.”
Hearing her voice, I sat up straight instantly.
“Jo!”
But it was just a recorded greeting.
“The cake is still here, and so is the ring. I didn't touch anything,” I rasped.
I bowed my head, pressing my forehead against my clenched fist.
“Please come back... please?”
The recording cut off.
I stared at the phone until the screen went dark again.
For the past five years, I’d always complained that she asked too much of me.
Now, I didn't even have the right to ask where she would be living from now on.