Chapter 22 - GRAHAM APOLOGIZES WITHOUT ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS
They sat in Helena’s new condo before the furniture arrived.
Two folding chairs.
Paper cups of coffee.
Boxes everywhere.
Graham looked around.
“Small.”
“I like small.”
“You sure?”
Helena smiled.
“Stop.”
“Right.”
He laughed.
Then became serious.
“I need to say something.”
She waited.
“I kept telling myself you were safe because I needed to believe my marriage was safe.”
Helena looked at him.
“If I believed you were being mistreated, I would have had to confront what that meant about Corinne.”
“Yes.”
“So I kept accepting explanations that made my life easier.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Helena nodded.
He continued.
“I don’t want forgiveness right now.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“That’s unusually mature.”
“I rehearsed.”
She laughed.
Graham smiled.
Then:
“I want you to know I understand the part that was mine.”
Helena’s face softened.
He looked at the floor.
“Corinne made you kneel.”
A pause.
“But I made it possible for you to believe you had nowhere else to stand.”
Helena’s eyes filled.
“That’s true.”
He nodded.
Painful.
Necessary.
She reached for his hand.
“Trust takes longer than love.”
“I know.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“And I’m still angry.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
They sat quietly.
That was reconciliation in its earliest form.
Not a clean slate.
May you like
A truthful one.
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