Chapter 7 - The Confrontation
Eight months after I left, Thomas flew to Seattle. He had been granted visitation under strict, supervised conditions, but he wasn't there for that. He showed up at my office, looking disheveled, the sheen of corporate success finally rubbed off.
"Celeste," he said, standing in my lobby. "I’ve changed. I lost the firm. Everything went to hell. Just... let me see her."
I looked at him, and I didn't feel rage. I felt a profound, pitying distance. He was looking for someone to blame, someone to carry his mess, but he had run out of people.
"You didn't lose the firm because of me, Thomas," I said quietly. "You lost it because you stopped paying attention to the details that mattered. Just like you stopped paying attention to us."
He looked at me, searching for the "furniture" he thought I was. He didn't find her. He found a woman who had built a company, who had protected her child, and who had learned to value herself.
May you like
"I’m not the person who fixes things for you anymore," I said, turning back to my desk. "The court will arrange your visits. Don’t come here again."
He left, and I didn't check to see which way he walked. It didn't matter.
