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She sat down opposite me, folding her hands as if to steady herself.
A man reading from a file | Source: Midjourney
“If this works,” she said. “I could get a big promotion. A real one. Not just a new title. More responsibility. More stability. Maybe a path to regional supervision. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to give you false hope. If it fails…” she breathed out. “I couldn’t bear to look at you and tell you I didn’t succeed.”
I kept flipping through the file, pretending to concentrate on it, even though the words were blurring.
She leaned forward slightly.
Close-up of a worried woman | Source: Midjourney
"And maybe," she said. "I wanted it to be a surprise. For you. For Lena. I didn't want to start explaining the job right before bed the other night."
I looked at her, really looked at her. She looked absolutely exhausted. But also… determined.
“I thought…” I began, then stopped. “I don’t know what I thought.”
A sleeping little girl | Source: Midjourney
"You thought I was lying," his smile was small. Sad.
"No, honey," I said. "You're not lying. Just... you were hiding something."
"True," she agreed. "But not what you thought."
We sat in a thick silence, the kind that only comes when everything that hasn't been said has finally landed on the table.
Close-up of a man sitting in an office | Source: Midjourney
“You could have told me,” I said, more calmly now.
“I know,” her eyes shine. “But I felt like it was something I wanted to give you. Not explain. Just… give.”
And that's when the truth came out, raw and whole between us.
