…I turned around and realized he saw his own mother, Linda, standing in my kitchen doorway holding a mug of tea.
My heart was pounding. I looked back at my boyfriend, Mark, whose face had gone from angry to completely pale.
“Mom?” he stammered. “What… what are you doing here?”
Linda took a slow sip of tea and stepped into the living room. She looked furious. “I’ve been here for two days, Mark. Helping Sarah pack. Because we both thought you were either dead or lying in a ditch somewhere.”
Mark tried to regain his composure. “I told you, I needed a pause! I was visiting family! I was coming to see you, Mom, but I got… sidetracked.”
“Stop it,” Linda snapped, her voice shaking. “I haven’t seen you in Washington. You never came home. But you know who did call me? The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department. apparently, you were arrested for a DUI in Las Vegas three weeks ago.”
My jaw dropped. “Vegas? You said you were with your family.”
Mark looked trapped. He pointed a finger at me, trying to deflect. “You checked up on me? That’s why you’re a traitor! You called my mother behind my back to spy on me?”
“I called her because I was terrified!” I screamed, tears finally spilling over. “I thought something terrible had happened to you! I spent four weeks crying myself to sleep, thinking you were hurt, while you were partying in Vegas?”
“I was going through a hard time! I needed space!” Mark yelled, pulling a ring box out of his pocket and snapping it open. It was a cheap-looking ring, definitely not what you buy after six weeks of soul-searching. “I came back to fix it! I’m here to marry you! Doesn’t that prove I love you?”
I looked at the ring, then at his desperate, manipulative face. The “pause,” the ghosting, the gaslighting—it all clicked. He hadn’t paused the relationship to find himself; he paused it to see if he could have a wild month in Vegas without consequences. He only came back because he ran out of money or got into trouble.
Linda walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “Sarah, honey, don’t you dare.”
I didn’t need her warning. I felt a sudden, cold calm wash over me.
“Get out,” I said quietly.
“What?” Mark blinked. “But… I’m back.”
“You didn’t come back to me,” I said, my voice getting stronger. “You came back to your safety net. You ghosted me for six weeks. You let me believe the worst. And the first thing you did when you walked in was scream at me for having support. We are not unpausing anything. We are deleting the whole thing.”
“You’re making a mistake!” Mark shouted as Linda physically steered him toward the door.
“The only mistake,” Linda said, opening the door wide, “was me not warning her about your selfishness sooner. Go wait in the car, Mark. I’m driving you to the bus station. You’re going to rehab, not a wedding.”
Mark looked at me one last time, expecting me to fold. When I didn’t, he huffed, shoved the ring in his pocket, and stormed out.
Linda turned back to me, looking exhausted. “I am so sorry, Sarah. You deserve so much better.”
I looked at the boxes we had started packing. “Well,” I smiled through my tears, “at least I’m already packed for a fresh start.”
