"Hey." Tony greeted, walking into Michelle's office. The two of them had been working together throughout the day with little or no drama, which was surprising. It was almost like it was before Tony's arrest. Michelle sighed. Nothing had been the same since then.
"Hey." she responded. "Everything set?"
"Yeah. The next shift's all set, and they sent someone from division to take over for you." Tony explained, placing his hand on his hip and scratching the side of his face.
"Good." she replied, walking back over to her desk and closing several folders.
"Look, Michelle." He paused and let out a quick but exasperated breath. "We haven't had much of a chance to talk and I…"
"And what?" she asked, ruder than she meant it to sound. She shook her head. "That came out wrong. Have a seat." She motioned to the couch. He reluctantly walked over to the sofa and sat down, glancing up as he saw his ex-wife approach and sit down next to him. She rested her elbows on her thighs and held her hands together. "What's up?"
"This day hasn't been… easy for either of us. I can't…" he stopped and looked at her. "I can't leave without knowing."
"Knowing what?" she asked, the love that once existed in her eyes slowly surfacing.
"Knowing if you ever… thought about me… after you left."
"Tony, don't do this." she pleaded.
"I need to do this." he responded quickly. Michelle stood and walked to the window, not wanting Tony to see the tears in her eyes. "Michelle, we were married for a year before I was arrested and only two years when you left. I need to know if I had as big of an impact on you as you had on me, or if you've really moved on. We weren't together for long Michelle, and I need to know if you really did love me."
"How can you doubt that?" she asked, breathing deeply to hold back sobs.
"You were pretty quick to leave." he snapped sarcastically. "I'm sorry, that was rude."
"Tony, do you think that I didn't love you?" she asked sincerely, flipping around.
"Let's face it, our relationship was never… we never really…" he paused, looking for the correct word.
"We didn't communicate well." she completed. He chuckled.
"We still don't. But we never really… needed to. Our marriage was…" he once again searched for words.
"Passionate?" she suggested.
"Yeah. It was. Maybe we were too quick to get married. Maybe we didn't have what it took to stay together."
"Maybe." she agreed. "But all that aside, I did trust you, and I would have told you anything. And…" She blinked the tears out of her eyes, but failed. "And I really did love you." she cried, her voice breaking.
"If you loved me then, why couldn't you after I was released?" he asked, genuinely wanting the answer.
"I did!" she yelled. "I… I do!" She held on to her stomach and hunched over, sobbing. "Tony, leaving you was the hardest thing I ever did. And not a day has gone by since then when I haven't questioned that decision. But what should I have done?"
Tony stood. "I don't know." He headed for the door and opened it. I really am glad that things are going well for you." he expressed truthfully. He gave her tear stained face one more look before turning around and leaving the office.