He did not accept it as a reason to ridicule someone who had worked for three days.

She then asked him whether he could ever forgive her.

He said forgiveness and continuing a marriage were different questions.

The following week, he came to my apartment carrying a folder of wedding contracts.

“We need to untangle the bookings and bills,” he said.

“And apparently getting married makes separating a lot more complicated than taking off a ring.”

We spread the documents across the table.

There were catering deposits, photographer installments, a honeymoon reservation, and furniture purchases for the apartment they had planned to share.