The closer he got to me, the faster my heart beat. All too soon, he was there beside me. He lifted me into a hug, like it was the most natural thing on earth. Maybe it was, in another time. But too much had changed since then.

He stepped back and measured the look in my eyes. The fear and trepidation were reflected back to me. Apologies were hard for him.

“You know I never meant to hurt you,” he began. “I would do anything to go back in time and erase that night.”

That night. Thinking about it was too hard, and I didn’t enjoy being forced to relive the memories. If only it had been something so simple as catching him with another woman. Listen to me, wishing for something as horrible as that.

But what had happened had been so much worse.