The Other Side of Disappearing

by Kate Clayborn

When she raises her eyes to mine and slowly smiles back, it suddenly becomes the best date of my life, even though it is not a date at all. Her smile is the same as her condolences. Rare. Honest. Meant.

“That was so athletic,” I say, then kiss him again, through his quiet chuckle. “I came out of retirement for you.”

I realize, with a startling sort of clarity, that I’d cut out my own heart before I treated hers carelessly.