Chapter 4

The End Looms

I sat at the end of the road, my back against a brick wall, watching the cars pass by in front of me. Their headlights blurred as they sped through the night, leaving streaks of light in their wake. It was late, so late that the city had taken on a different kind of silence, the kind that settles deep into your bones. And there I was, just sitting, doing nothing but thinking.

I couldn’t feel the cold anymore. The rain had soaked through my clothes hours ago, but I didn’t care. My thoughts were somewhere else, far away from this street, from this moment. They were with Evelyn.

“I won’t give up,” I muttered to myself, my breath fogging in the cool night air. “I love her. I won’t give up.”

I meant it. Deep down, no matter what had happened, I couldn’t bring myself to believe that this was truly the end. Even though I was poor, even though her parents had handed me those damn divorce papers, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we weren’t done. That our story wasn’t over.

I pulled out my old phone, the screen cracked and scratched from years of use, and checked it for the hundredth time that night. Nothing. No missed calls, no texts from Evelyn. I had been hoping, praying, that maybe she would reach out. That she would explain, apologize, something. But there was nothing.

I sighed and shoved the phone back into my pocket, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut. Evelyn had been everything to me. My wife, my partner, my best friend. And now… just now she is just gone.

I leaned my head back against the wall, staring up at the night sky. The stars were barely visible through the haze of city lights, but they were there, faint and distant.

“Why?” I whispered to no one in particular. “Why did it have to end like this?”

The answer didn’t come. Instead, the silence stretched on, broken only by the occasional rumble of a passing car. I didn’t know where to go from here. My life had been turned upside down in a matter of days, and I felt like I was floating, untethered, with no direction and no plan.

I couldn’t go back to Evelyn’s parents. That door was closed, locked tight, and I didn’t want to beg them for anything. I didn’t want to stoop that low. My pride wouldn’t let me, even if my heart ached for some kind of resolution.

I didn’t know where else to go, who to call. My parents were living their own poor lives, struggling just like me, trying to make ends meet. I couldn’t turn to them, they had their own problems to deal with. Besides, I didn’t want them to see me like this. Defeated. Broken.

I’m supposed to be the man, I thought bitterly. The one who takes care of everything. The one who provides.

But what kind of man am I now? Sitting here on the side of the road, with nothing to my name except the clothes on my back and a broken heart? I had promised Evelyn so much, promised her that we would make a life together, that we would be happy. And now…

Now, it felt like all of those promises had crumbled into dust.

I closed my eyes, letting the memories wash over me. I thought about the early days of our relationship, back when everything had been simple and easy. Back when it had been just the two of us, and nothing else had mattered. We hadn’t had much, but we had each other, and that had been enough.

But somewhere along the way, things had changed. I didn’t know exactly when it had happened, or why, but I could feel it now, looking back. The distance between us had grown wider, little by little, until one day, it was too wide to bridge.

I didn’t want to blame her for everything. I knew that I wasn’t perfect. I had my flaws, my mistakes, and I wasn’t blind to them. Maybe I had failed her in ways that I didn’t even realize. Maybe I hadn’t been enough for her. But still, I couldn’t help but wonder… why didn’t she fight for us? Why didn’t she give us a chance?

“Why didn’t you call, Evelyn?” I whispered again, my voice barely audible over the sound of the wind.

But she hadn’t called. She hadn’t fought. She had just… left.

I felt a lump form in my throat, and I swallowed hard, trying to push it down. I wasn’t going to cry. I couldn’t cry. Not here, not now. Not for her.

But the pain is there, gnawing at me, refusing to let go.

I stood up suddenly, feeling the need to move, to do something; anything, to get away from the memories, from the hurt. My legs were stiff, my muscles sore from sitting in the cold for so long, but I didn’t care. I started walking, my footsteps echoing in the empty streets.

I didn’t know where I was going, but it didn’t matter. I just needed to move, to keep walking, to keep my mind from spiraling into that dark place where all I could think about was Evelyn and how much I missed her.

As I walked, I thought about my future. About what came next. I didn’t have much to my name, no job, no real prospects, no money. But I had something more important than all of that. I had a fire inside of me, a determination to make something of myself. To prove to Evelyn, to her parents, to the world, that I wasn’t just some nobody.

I’m going to make it, I told myself firmly. No matter what. I’m going to succeed. And when I do, they’ll all see what they’ve lost.

It wasn’t just about proving them wrong, it was about proving something to myself. I had hit rock bottom, but I wasn’t going to stay there. I was going to climb out of this hole, no matter how long it took, no matter how hard it was.

And maybe, just maybe, when I had finally made it, when I had become the man I knew I could be—l, Evelyn would regret walking away.

But deep down, I knew that wasn’t what I really wanted. What I wanted, what I needed, was for her to come back. For her to call me, to tell me that she had made a mistake, that she still loved me. That we could fix this, together.

But the phone remained silent, and the night stretched on, cold and unforgiving.

I wandered through the streets for hours, lost in my thoughts, barely paying attention to where I was going. By the time I finally stopped, the first light of dawn was creeping over the horizon.

I found myself standing in front of a small diner, its neon sign flickering in the early morning light. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten in what felt like days.

I pushed open the door, the bell above it jingling as I stepped inside. The place was mostly empty, save for a few early risers sitting at the counter, sipping coffee and reading newspapers.

I slid into a booth near the window, staring blankly at the menu that the waitress handed me. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted. Food, yes, but more than that. I wanted… I wanted everything to go back to the way it was.

The waitress came back with a cup of coffee, setting it down in front of me with a tired smile. I thanked her quietly, taking a sip of the bitter liquid. It burned my throat, but it was a welcome distraction from the thoughts swirling in my mind.

As I sat there, staring out the window at the empty streets, I couldn’t help but wonder what Evelyn was doing. Was she thinking about me, the way I'm thinking about her? Or had she already moved on, already forgotten about the life we had built together?

I didn’t have the answers, and that was the hardest part. Not knowing. Not knowing if she still cared, if she still loved me, if there was any chance of fixing what had been broken.

But as I sat there, alone in that diner, I made a decision. I wasn’t going to wait around for her to come back. I wasn’t going to keep hoping for a call that might never come.

I was going to take control of my life. I was going to build something for myself, something real. And if she came back, if she wanted to be a part of it; well, that was up to her.

But I wasn’t going to sit here, waiting for her. Not anymore.

I finished my coffee, left a few crumpled bills on the table, and stepped out into the morning light.

The world was waiting for me, and I wasn’t going to let it pass me by.