Inevitable

by Kristen Granata

Because sometimes, we need to be held just a little bit longer than we let on.

“You dated him because you knew it was a waste of time,” he says, like it’s obvious. “Because it was safe. Because you keep people at arm’s length where they can’t hurt you.” “How was he safe? The asshole cheated on me.” “Because you knew he would fuck it up. He was predictable. The movie can’t take you by surprise when you already know how it’s going to end.”

“You’ve got fire in your veins and passion in your heart. Those vapid, trust-fund kids will never be able to hold a candle to you. You’re different.”

You have to listen in the silence too. That’s when people speak the most.”

“I’m ashamed to want the things I shouldn’t.”

Eva sits in a chair in the middle of the room, the havoc she wreaked all around her like the aftermath of an earthquake. Montalbano steps into the room, his eyes jumping from broken thing to broken thing, not yet realizing that his daughter is the most broken thing of all.

“I love you, Eva. I’m yours, if you want me.” His voice breaks, and he grips my face in those massive hands. “Please, put me out of this misery and tell me you still love me too. Tell me we can start over.”

“I still love you, Big Guy. I never stopped. I had to stitch every piece of my own damn heart back together, and it’s jagged and bruised, but it belongs to you. Only you.”