SHAPES UNSPOKEN

-28-

HAPPY READING 🥰

Sean Britto

Annabelle takes her mother’s hand and disappears down the hallway with her. The soft murmur of their voices fades, leaving me alone in the sitting room with her father.

Mr. Innis sits across from me in the leather armchair, his posture straight, composed, the kind of presence that fills a room without effort. I know exactly what this is. A man like him does not let the opportunity pass.

He’s a lawyer.

And I’m about to be cross-examined.

The silence stretches just long enough to make the air feel heavier. I reach for the glass of water on the table beside me, already sensing my throat drying.

Then he speaks.

“I’ve heard about your divorce a couple of weeks ago,” he says calmly. “How is it that my daughter and yourself are in a relationship?”

The question lands like a stone in the center of the room.

I take a slow sip of water, buying myself a second. This is the last thing I want our first conversation to revolve around, but the reality is there is no escaping it. The media has been feeding on the story for weeks, inventing details, creating narratives that never existed.

I swallow and set the glass down.

“Sir,” I begin carefully, meeting his eyes, “Annabelle and I were never together while I was married.”

He watches me silently, his expression unreadable.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Mr. Innis,” I continue. “I loved my wife. I believed we were happy. I believed our family was doing well.”

Even saying the words still carries a strange weight.

“But unexpectedly, out of the blue, she tells me she wants to move to Italy for a job offer. She leaves… without any real explanation about what that means for our marriage.”

I pause, remembering that day.

“That was a little over a year ago. She packed up and left.”

Mr. Innis doesn’t interrupt. He simply listens.

“I don’t fault her for wanting a career,” I add. “What hurt was that she never made me part of the decision. She never considered what it meant for our family.”

I take a breath.

“Even though I knew Annabelle before that… there was never anything romantic between us. And I never pursued her during my marriage.”

His eyes remain locked on mine.

“Annabelle and I connected about seven months ago at a charity gala,” I say. “And in those months she has become an incredibly important woman in my life.”

My voice softens slightly.

“She actually made it very difficult for me,” I add with a small smile. “She kept her distance because of my marital status. Your daughter has more integrity than most people I know.”

For a moment, the corner of Mr. Innis’s mouth lifts.

“You’ve raised an incredible woman,” I say. “And in these few months… I’ve come to love her.”

The room goes quiet again.

He studies me the way a man studies evidence.

Then he asks another question.