Maybe because I had expected it to feel like mine forever.
There were framed photos of Emily and the girls.
A coffee mug Claire painted for me with one handle thicker than the other because kids are honest with clay.
A legal pad with half-finished notes for the presentation that never happened.
Pens.
Headphones.
A stress ball shaped like a football.
Three client folders.
A spare tie in the drawer.
I packed slowly.
Every item felt strangely intimate, like evidence from a version of my life already ending.
A couple coworkers stopped by.
One said she was sorry.
Another whispered that what Nick did was messed up.
A third just stood there awkwardly and said, “Good luck, man,” like I was headed off to war.
Nick didn’t come near me.
I saw him once through the glass wall of his office, talking on the phone, pacing, not looking my way.
