Scenes From a Soap Opera

The End

Lily had decorated the ballroom of the Grand Phoenix beautifully. It was like Halloween exploded all over the room, but not too much over the top. The young CEO sighed as she examined the room one last time before the guests started to arrive. She had recently bought the hotel from Phyllis and had thrown herself into this project to avoid thinking about her life. Most importantly thinking about her relationship with Billy. Things had been slowly falling apart ever since Billy had left Chancellor and were only growing worse after his arrest. Things had been so bad that despite being swamped at Chancellor, she threw herself into planning this party in her free time instead of being with Billy.

Billy entered the ballroom to see his girlfriend dressed as a flapper going over final preparations for the big Halloween bash. Billy looked down at his own costume, a vampire, then back to Lily. They were so out of sync that they weren't even dressed similarly. Both halves of the couple knew what was coming, the fact that their relationship had run its course needed to be addressed. However, neither of them wanted to be the one to start the conversation, so they avoided it and each other. Billy finally made eye contact with his girlfriend and the look she gave him spoke volumes. She moved her head slightly to the left, signaling him to meet her in a corner.

"You look beautiful, Lily." He told her once they arrived in a private corner. She smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. That was when he knew that their relationship was officially over. Honestly, Lily knew it too, taking a deep breath she started the conversation that she was dreading having to have.

"Billy, we need to talk." Billy froze at those words. So it begins, he thought to himself.

"I agree. Did you want to start?"

Lily nodded afraid if she waited that she would lose her nerve, "I feel a divide between us, a growing distance. We haven't  been giving our relationship the attention it deserves in the past few months. I take full responsibility for my part in this, I should have made the effort. We both should have made the effort." Lily took a deep breath, feeling the tears forming behind her eyes. "I should have reached out to you more instead of avoiding the awkwardness that was growing. I was afraid to confront the fact that we have been growing apart. I'm worried that the distance has become too wide, I have gotten used to being alone. I like it, and I hate that I'm hurting you like this. You did nothing to deserve it."

Billy reached up to brush the tears that were streaming down Lily's face. She was startled by his touch; she didn't even realize that she was crying. He hated to admit it, but he agreed with everyone that she was saying. He too had felt the growing distance and the lack of effort to reconnect on both of their parts. There were plenty of times that he thought about texting or calling Lily but didn't; and there was no excuse for it.

"Can I say something?" Billy softly asked. Lily sniffed and nodded; Billy deserved to say his piece. He didn't even know where to begin so he just decided to speak from the heart. "I agree with everything you just said. We both didn't put in the effort to keep our relationship alive. We drifted apart and didn't appreciate each other. Please don't feel bad, you did nothing wrong. You're not hurting me; you're setting us both free." Billy pulled her into a hug. This was the most mature breakup he had ever had.

"Please know that I love and care about you. I'm sorry that we couldn't go the distance." Lily whispered as she released herself from his embrace.

"I love and care about you too." Billy replied as he watched her walk away from him. As painful as this conversation was, they both knew that it needed to be done. They had to let each other go. Hopefully, if things worked out, they could come back together when they were both in a better place. Billy sighed as he turned to leave the hotel. He would find his children and spend his night with them. He really needed the distraction and wanted to give Lily space to deal with the breakup without having to look at him.