i disappeared.
not in a dramatic way.
no final message.
no “i can’t do this right now.”
just… absence.
weeks passed.
enough time for guilt to fossilize.
enough time for me to rehearse being confronted.
i went back expecting consequences.
or silence.
or worse, politeness.
instead he said hi.
like i’d only been gone to refill my glass.
no questions.
no tally marks.
no gentle punishment disguised as concern.
he said he was glad i was there.
just that.
present tense.
no footnotes.
i kept trying to explain.
kept offering reasons like loose change.
he didn’t take any of them.
i don’t know what to do with someone
who doesn’t make me earn my re-entry.
i don’t know how to stand in a room
where the door was never slammed.
it would be easier if he were angry.
anger i understand.
anger has edges.
this is just… open.
maybe this is what normal people mean
when they say “it’s okay.”
or maybe he’s just very bad at noticing when people leave.
either way,
i’m here again.
and somehow that’s enough.