CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR The Apology Cycle
Jalen did not contact Maya for four days.On the fifth, he sent flowers to her office.Not red roses this time. White peonies, her favorite. The card read: I can do better than this. Let me show
you.Maya stared at it for several minutes.A coworker passed her office and smiled. "Somebody's in
trouble."Maya forced a laugh.That evening Jalen waited outside the building.
"Before you say anything," he said, "I was wrong.
" Maya stopped."About what?""My tone. Camille.
The phone. All of it.""Did you cheat?""No.
""Did you flirt with her?"He looked at the sidewalk.Maya's chest tightened.
"Jalen.""A little. Before you and I were officially together.
" "After I kissed you?""Yes."The hurt was immediate, though Maya knew they had
not technically defined the relationship then."Why didn't you tell me?""Because I knew how it would look.""That's called hiding.""I know."He stepped closer but did not touch her."I got scared. You came back into my life and suddenly
everything I thought I wanted felt like it could become real.
Part of me kept one foot out the door."Maya laughed softly, bitterly.
"You sound like me.""Maybe that's why we keep hurting each other.
""That's not romantic.""I'm not trying to make it romantic.
"He looked genuinely ashamed.Maya wanted to stay angry.Jalen had always known how to become vulnerable at the exact moment her anger started turning into a boundary.But what if this time the vulnerability was real?
"I don't want to repeat who I was with you," he said.
"I don't want you looking at me and seeing that kid forever.
"Maya's throat tightened."Then don't act like him.
""I know.""No more secret women.""Okay.""No talking to me like I'm crazy for noticing things.
""Okay.""And if you're angry, say you're angry.
Don't disappear."Jalen nodded. "Okay."Maya studied him.
"I mean it.""I do too."He reached for her hand.She let him take it.The apology felt good.That was the problem with cycles.
The repair was often sincere enough to make the damage seem temporary.For two weeks, Jalen was attentive again.He called when he said he would.
He left his phone on the table. He invited Maya to the studio, introduced her to staff, and made room for her in a life that had previously seemed compartmentalized.Maya relaxed.She stayed at his loft three nights in a row.On the fourth morning, while Jalen showered, his phone buzzed on the nightstand.Maya did not touch it.Then it buzzed again.And again.The screen lit with a preview.Camille: Last night was a mistake.
We need to stop.Maya stopped breathing.For a long moment, she simply stared.The shower continued running.Water struck tile.Maya picked up the phone.It was locked.The preview was enough.She placed it exactly where it had been.Then she began packing her things.