For parts 1-3, use these links:
Tears of Destruction Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Jenny Malone became the human race’s savior because she came home from work early. She opened her apartment door, ready to surprise her boyfriend and get the weekend started, and nearly tripped over his suitcases. One of them fell over with a loud thump.
Corey leaned out of the bedroom and saw her. His face said, I wish I’d left ten minutes ago. He picked up the fallen bag without acknowledging Jenny then stood there like he couldn’t wait to leave.
"For good this time," her new ex-boyfriend said.
"What did I do wrong?" Jenny asked in a small voice as she looked down at his suitcases. Her fingers meshed and came apart, a nervous habit she’d never broken. Fear slicked her hands with sweat, and she was afraid to look up at him when she ran her palms up and down her thigh, telling herself to fight for what she had. She took a small step toward him, their eyes meeting.
Don’t, his said as Corey stepped back, avoiding her touch. "I'm just tired of it all," he said as he picked up his other suitcase. Corey lifted a lot of weights so Jenny knew his knuckles didn’t immediately go white because they were heavy.
"Don't go." Her voice rose at the end, destroying any image of confidence she was projecting. Inside her head, she screamed at her weak ego for forcing such pleading into her voice. "Whatever I did, I can fix it."
"You didn't do anything." He stood in front of her for a second longer then shook his head and moved around her.
She stepped out of his way, then cursed herself for being too accommodating. "Then why?" She followed him to the door. Is this it? Will I never see him again? She almost bumped into him as she tried to get as close as possible to him, hoping proximity to her smell, her body, would be enough to hold him.
"We just don't work, Jenny." He stepped through the apartment door and started to say something else then glanced at the small table just inside the door. The entryway light caught his shiny apartment key, perfectly lighting it up and freezing her in place. When she looked back toward him, Corey was already turning to go down the carpeted stairs. He didn’t look back. The familiar creak of the step just before the fourth-floor landing floated up the central opening.
He’ll be right back, she told herself. If I go to the stairs, he’ll be at the landing just like last time, and everything will be okay. She waited, certain he was still standing there on the next floor down. Be strong.
Slow seconds crept by before her eyes grew puffy, gearing up for the deluge. Jenny rushed to the stairs and the flood gates opened.
Why? She squeezed the newel as if it were the only thing that would help her stay on her feet while she stared at the empty landing below. I treated him right, didn’t I? What else could I have done? She leaned against the wall, waiting, crying. It was final this time. He wasn’t coming back. He wasn’t going to reappear. Unlike last time, he wasn’t going to tell her it was a test.
Corey needed a reason bigger than their relationship to come back. Did he leave anything behind? If he did, he’d come back and she could talk to him, patch things up.
Jenny ran into the apartment, her eyes jerking toward the shelves they shared in the living room. The dust pattern showed where the few books Corey cared about had been. His favorite L.A. Dodgers mug was gone from the kitchen. Her clothes were a striped pattern of colored cloth, half-filling their shared closet. In the other half, a single shirt hung there, alone.
Like Jenny.
You can keep this shirt. I never liked it anyway, said the note attached to the hanger. It was a t-shirt she had given him.
The bathroom, her last hope, was a bust, too. Corey hadn't even left his nearly flattened tube of toothpaste.
He's never coming back!
She flopped onto the bed, gasping for air. Her pain only got worse as she realized he’d changed the sheets. She couldn’t even smell him anymore. The lonely room squeezed the breath out of her and tears rolled again.
Sob-filled minutes passed before she decided she needed something to cheer her up. Sunsets had always made her smile as a child, so she grabbed her keys and headed to the roof.
Tears of Destruction - Part 1 (if you’re reading it in the alternate 4-1-2-3-5-6-7 order)