A breakup dialog

Part 1

"All I can do is promise to try to make you happy. I want you to be happy with me, Michelle, but I can't promise anything more. I can't promise to be the man you deserve."

Her heart opened, but she was afraid to say anything. She didn't want to put herself in his shoes, nor in his past.

"I can't live without you, Michelle. I want you to trust me."

She nodded.

Michelle felt a tiny twinge of guilt. She was a good person, but she was no saint.

"You're right. I'd be lying if I said I was not happy right now.", Michelle said. "But you've been married before, haven't you?"

She was not a woman who was afraid of the truth. She was strong, determined, stubborn and fair. And she didn't want to know that her own heart didn't belong to her lover.

"I've been so busy with the baby and trying to keep you happy while you've been taken up with other women."

He wanted to tell her that he wasn't interested in other women, that he'd been married five years and his marriage had long ended, but he didn't.

Michelle was silent for several moments, then her lips tightened. "You're not going to leave, are you?"

She brushed her fingers over his cheek.

His smile was so soft, so inviting, that she couldn't help but smile back.

He kissed her temple. "I love you, Michelle. But I won't do anything to hurt you."

She stared at him for a long moment in silence. The words were so simple, so obvious, that there was nothing more she needed to say that would make his heart change.

He leaned down, kissed her, then left the room. She waited until he was gone, then she walked to the door and closed it. She stood there, watching as he walked back downstairs, tears streaking her eyes.

It was heaven.