before finally finding it again beneath the streetlights.
Then Rachel’s car appeared behind his.
My stomach tightened.
They passed the bars and restaurants where Michael supposedly met his friends and continued toward a quiet riverside park instead.
I parked on a side street and walked the rest of the way with my phone ready.
Tom was waiting near the path, partly hidden behind a line of trees.
Neither of us spoke.
Rachel and Michael stood beneath a shelter beside the water. They looked around before moving closer and kissing like they had done it countless times before.
My hands began to shake.
I started recording, pressing my phone against a tree trunk to keep it steady. A few yards away, Tom lifted his own phone.
“How long have I mistaken secrecy for trust?” I whispered.
Tom said nothing.
He kept his eyes on them.
Eventually, Michael and Rachel pulled apart, but neither made any move to leave. Their voices carried toward us in fragments.
I moved a little closer, remaining behind the trees.
Rachel said something I couldn’t make out.
“Tomorrow,” Michael said. “We should do it soon. We’ll elope, leave all this behind, and start over together.”
Rachel folded her arms. “You say that like it’s easy. Yesterday made everything harder.”
