A Little Thing Like That

Carrie Ellison stared at me in disbelief."Cole, there were so many people there. Gabe was only helping me out of kindness. "You won't even try to understand me, and now you want a divorce over something this trivial?!""Does fastening a clasp require him to put his hand inside your clothes?" I let out a mocking laugh. "I'm your husband, and I was right there beside you, yet you ignored me and threw yourself into his arms."She clicked her tongue impatiently. "So you're jealous. How many times have I told you? If there were really anything between Gabe and me, you would never have become my husband!"I fixed my gaze on her."Maybe what you two have crossed is debatable—but the hurt I've endured all this time is real."Carrie froze."Carrie, when you insisted on making your childhood sweetheart—who can't even put together a decent PPT—the vice president, and handed over all the clients I fought to secure…"When my mother was in surgery, and you ignored my pleas just to take hi

After work that evening, I had just stepped out of the company building when Carrie's car pulled up in front of me.Gabe leaned out from the passenger seat and waved."Cole, sorry about this—I get carsick, so you'll have to take the back seat."Carrie added, "Gabe came to apologize to you."I said nothing, simply nodded and opened the door to sit in the back.The entire ride, Carrie ignored me. She kept chatting with Gabe instead. Whenever he said something funny, she laughed so hard her shoulders shook, even reaching out to lightly slap his thigh.It looked less like conversation and more like flirting.When we arrived at the private room, Carrie casually handed the menu to Gabe."You're my childhood friend. You should know what I like without me having to say it."Gabe rested his chin against her neck."Of course. I even know how many moles you have on your body."I silently took a seat to the side. Not a single dish on the table was something I could eat.Gabe filled my

When Gabe pushed open the office door, Carrie was staring irritably at the divorce agreement on her desk."Got rid of them?" she asked.Gabe grinned. "Everything's taken care of.""Did you say what I told you to?"He nodded."And how did he react?"Gabe paused, thinking back."Seems like… he didn't react at all…"The irritation in Carrie's chest deepened. She glanced down through the floor-to-ceiling window. Cole and his group were already gone.Annoyed, she shoved aside the coffee Gabe had just brought her."You can go now.""Carrie…""Just listen. Go."Gabe pressed his lips together, stealing a glance at the empty office space below through the corner of his eye. A faint smile curved his lips before he turned and left.The moment he was gone, Carrie crumpled the divorce agreement into a ball and threw it to the floor.Why was Cole so impossible to deal with?How many times had she told him that she and Gabe were innocent—completely innocent!As her husband, the man w

"Cole… do you think I realized it too late?" The corners of Carrie's eyes were already red. "I know—five years. I really was too late. But we still have decades ahead of us. I'll prove it to you. For the sake of the ten years we've shared… can you give me one chance to make things right?"She spoke with complete sincerity.But I shook my head."Carrie, do you really not understand what your crossing the line means to me? Even if you never intended to cross that final boundary?"She looked at me, confused.I shook my head again."No, Carrie. You're not that naive. When you were with Gabe, you knew exactly what you were doing, didn't you? You just enjoyed the ambiguity—wanting everything at once. And now it's gotten out of control."I looked straight into her eyes."So, Carrie… I will never forgive you. Not in this lifetime."…I spent years at Carrie's company, willingly giving her my youth.Ten years ago, we met and fell in love on campus.After graduation, I worked part-ti