Page 71

Story: Art of Convenience

“Love you too, I will.” I blow her a kiss and she sticks her tongue out and rolls her eyes in the back of her head doing an over-the-top make-out impression. I shake my head, laughing as I hang up.

“Oh,Camila! Nice to see you, I thought youwere on your way to Miami,” Talan says when I bounce into the kitchen.

“I am, I leave in a few hours.”

“I’m actually heading today too, it will be my first vacation in three years.” He beams his signature sweet smile.

“I heard that. Yeah, Miles mentioned he was going to be lost without you this week.”

He blushes and nods his head. “I doubt those were his words, but thank you.”

I smile at him. “Did he make you come over here to pick something up on your first day of vacation?” I ask.

“Oh, I just wanted to drop off your files. He was very adamant that I get them to youtoday.But I’ve had this vacation planned for months so I completely forgot, and then when he said you were heading out, I rushed over as soon as I remembered this morning.”

I’m assuming they’re papers having to do with the gallery. “Well I really appreciate it, thank you, Talan,” I say.

He leaves the folder on the table and heads to the elevator, pressing the button, he says, “Enjoy your trip.”

“You as well,” I shout as the elevator doors close.

I’m about to go back and finish packing but I move to look at the folder first. When I open the manilla envelope my heart stops at an alarming rate.

Record of Dissolution of Marriage, Annulment, or Registered Domestic Partnership hits me in big bold letters. I set the folder on the table and use my hands to brace myself as the room spins around me.

I take a handful of deep breaths, trying to steady myself. Everything is filled out.

Everything from Partner A and B’s information to the marriage license number. And that perfect signature at the bottom,

Miles S Cameron.

My sweaty palms battle with the chill that runs through my body. Why would he just fill these out now after we’ve started a relationship? After this weekend? And why would he do it without telling me? All too quickly, I’m hit with another realization. I’ll be the first to admit I was a little out of it the day Miles told me we couldn’t file these papers for sixty days. He told me nothing could be done for eight weeks and I believed him. But if he lied, I’m not sure which option is worse.

Miles

“Should I park,or wait out front?” Wills asks from the front.

“I’m just going to run up and help her with her bags, we’ll be right down,” I say.

Wills pulls up to the front of my building and I jump out, speed walking through the lobby to the elevator. My heart tells my feet to move so I can get to her quickly, the quicker I get to her, the more time I’ll have with her. My head tells me to slow down, the sooner I get to her the sooner she’ll be leaving.

Five large suitcases greet me outside the elevator doors. She definitely isn't traveling light. I panic for a moment that maybe she’s extended her flight home and will be gone for longer than the two days she had originally planned. Her shoes squeak across the floor as she rounds the stairs into the kitchen.

“Hey, you’ve got quite the luggage goi—” I stop when I notice the redness around her eyes. But it’s not sadness in her eyes, her expression is pure pain. I move towards her and she backs up, causing my heart to lodge itself in my throat. “What's going on?” I ask.

“Our annulment papers were delivered today,” she says.

My heart is no longer stuck, it’s fallen straight down to my gut. “Camila, let's sit and talk about this real quick.”

She holds up her hand to stop me from coming any closer. “When did you sign them?”

“Camila, please. I can explain if we could just sit for a?—”

“When did you sign them, Miles?”

“I signed them the day we got back from Vegas. I had Talan order them, he was able to expedite it and I filled everything out that day. Had we gotten them today, I would have never signed them. Fuck, Camila, I wouldn’t have even ordered them.” The words tumble out of my mouth without a second thought.

“So the papers that you said we couldn't file for eight weeks…you’ve had.” And for the first time in my career, I’ve fucked up. I spoke before thinking and I fucked myself. “You’ve not only had them, you've had them filled out, ready to go just waiting for my signature.” I stand staring at her, processing what I’ve done in my head. I instinctively go back to my old ways of saying absolutely nothing.