Chapter 2

“Mia.”

“Yeah?”

“Look me in the eyes.”

She looked at me.

“Is there another reason?” I asked.

“What other reason?”

“You don’t want to get married anymore?”

She frowned. “What are you talking about? When did I ever say I didn’t want to get married?”

“Then why did you cancel the wedding? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Didn’t I already say it? I think it’s a waste of money.”

“Mia.”

I cut her off.

“We’ve been together for three years. Don’t I know what you’re like? When you want something, no matter how expensive it is, you have to get it.”

“Since when do you care this much about money?”

She didn’t say anything.

“If you really think the wedding isn’t necessary, we can talk about it.”

I took a step forward.

“Why did you go behind my back and cancel it? Why didn’t you talk to me first?”

“Aren’t I talking to you now?”

“This is talking?”

I pointed at the papers on the coffee table.

“You already canceled it. Now you’re coming to talk to me? That’s not talking. That’s telling me after the fact!”

She took a deep breath and turned her face away.

“I already told my mom.”

“You should tell your parents too. Let’s just not do the wedding.”

Something in my head went buzzing.

“You told your mom?”

“Yes.”

“What did she say?”

“She said...”

She paused.

“She said it’s up to us to decide.”

I stared at her profile.

“Mia.”

“Give me your phone.”

“What?”

“Your phone. Let me see it.”

Her hand moved back a little, just a little. Very slight.

But I saw it.

“What for?” she said, her voice tightening a little. “What’s so good about my phone?”

“You used to let me look whenever I wanted.”

“That doesn’t mean you can look every day, does it?”

I walked toward her and reached out. “Give it to me.”

She stepped back.

“Ethan, don’t do this.”

“Do what?”

“You’re...” She avoided my hand. “You’re not trusting me.”

I laughed.

“I don’t trust you? Mia, you’re the one who canceled the wedding behind my back. You’re the one who hid it from me. And now you’re telling me I don’t trust you?”

She didn’t say anything. Her hand was in her pocket, and I knew she was holding her phone.

“Take it out,” I said.

“No.”

“Mia.”

“I said no.”

Her voice hardened.

“My phone is private. Why should I show you?”

“That’s not what you used to say.”

“Back then you said there was no privacy between us. Back then you said I could look whenever I wanted.”

“That was then.”

“And now?”

She said nothing.

I looked at her, at the person I had been with for three years.

She stood on the other side of the coffee table, separated from me by one table, but it felt like she had already stepped a very, very long way away.

“Are you hiding something from me?” I asked.