She didn't like being sneaky about leaving, but she knew now that he was not mentally or emotionally healthy, and that staying to have the conversation with him would probably be her undoing. It was best to make a clean break so she could begin the healing process by herself.
Standing in the living room, she looked around at the home she thought they had built together. Now she knew that it had been an illusion from the start. Something within her had desperately needed what she'd thought only he could give. She'd needed it so badly, that she'd been willing to become someone she wasn't, in order to get it. She knew it would take a long time to figure out why she'd been vulnerable to him, but she had to try, to keep it from happening again. She sat down at the kitchen table wrote him a quick goodbye letter.
Dear Luke,
I'm sorry, but I couldn't speak to you about this, I just had to do it. If something comes up that is an emergency, you can contact Terri and she will pass along a message. Please don't try to contact me; I have changed my phone number and email address. It is for the best.
I hope you get the help you need,
Love, Olivia
Epilogue
S he snorted at her friend and shook her head in disbelief. "Terri, you have the sickest sense of humor of anyone I know," Olivia said. "It's a good thing I love you, or I would groan you right out the door!"
"Yeah, yeah," Terri responded. "You know you love it!"
They were still laughing when the doorbell rang, and she jumped up to answer it.
"Happy Birthday!" April exclaimed jubilantly, as Olivia opened the door.
"Oh, don't keep reminding me!" she exclaimed with an overly-dramatic moan. "I'm trying to forget how old I'm getting!"
The old friends continued to laugh and tease each other as they gathered around the kitchen table and unpacked the take-out dinner Terri had brought. There was a lull in the conversation when April spoke up.
"Seriously though, Olivia, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing really well," Olivia answered with a small smile. "It isn't easy all the time, but things are happening just as they are supposed to."
"I'm glad to hear that," April said. "We just want what's best for you."
Olivia looked around the table at her two friends and felt a wash of gratitude pour over her. She wasn't sure how she would ever have made it through the past few months without them. Leaving Luke and his crazy-making behaviors had been necessary, but that didn't mean it was painless. She'd had so much invested in their relationship that when she'd married him, she had ignored his erratic behavior. While his uncertainty and lack of stability right before they were married should have given her an indication of what being married to him would be like, she had truly felt that once they were married things would be okay. She guessed it just went to show that even grown women, who are old enough to know better, can be blinded and still think that they can somehow change a man.
"I appreciate you two very much," Olivia said, her eyes moistening with tears. "So now, let's raise a toast to my life, even if it is a cautionary tale!"