“I mean it, Jack. I’ll be civil with you, but I don’t like the line we’ve flirted with. I will not be anyone’s regret again.” His eyes vacillate between mine, an opera’s worth of emotions flickering over his features. He opens his mouth but quickly closes it, and finally, after a long beat, nods in what almost appears like defeat. He turns to return to his apartment, but before he shuts the door, I hear him say, “I never regretted you. It was everything else I didn’t know how to handle.”
