"It's just..." I couldn't bare to look up and see her crushed ocean blue eyes staring at me. Fiddling with the dilapidated blank straw paper, I kept my gaze lowered to the chipped table top. "We aren't working." I muttered. Even admitting aloud was troublesome for me. I had thought and dwelled on it for so long, but it was still difficult to acknowledge.

Uttering the words aloud made our problems real; there was no more hiding.

"But Mike," she reached out her hand to touch mine and her soft, slender fingers brushed against my wrist. I looked up. Once again, I drowned in her beautiful orbs-- the very eyes that were, at that moment, overflowing with tears. "I don't understand. I thought things were going so well."

"Clarissa," I said warningly, watching her. She must have recognized the 'you can't fool me' look because she shut up and slid back in her seat like a wounded animal. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I lightly shook my head. "You know this isn't working. You're too smart to act dumbfounded by this." To my declaration, she spoke not a word; only managed to nod her head numbly. She had known.

Yet, like me, she had prayed it would all bypass.

"Is there anything I can do?" She finally asked, raising her eyes to meet mine. Desperation clung in her irises. Clutching at my wrist, she begged. "Please. I don't wanna lose you." Tears began to spill from her eyes, dripping down her heated face. From within my chest, I felt my heart stop. I never wanted to make her cry. I tried everything I could to never have her shed tears because of me.

And yet all attempts had failed.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I once again tore my eyes away; unable to look at her a second longer.

"I don't think there's anything..." My voice faded off as the reality of the situation finally settled on us. This was it; things were over. Biting back tears of my own, I shook them off before stating in a forcefully steady voice. "Clarissa, I don't wanna lose you, either. And I'm... not saying we should. But we both know--"

"I'll call you more." Her interruption shook me into silence. "I'll try harder to be more involved. I'll be with you more." We both knew she was clutching at straws in this. She looked panicky as she watched me-- terrified to deal with the reality that we weren't working. A heavy sigh escaped my lips.

"Clarissa," I said plainly. Leaning closer on the table, I stared dead into her eyes. "We both know that won't happen." She reacted as though I had slapped her across the face, yet she remained silent, She knew I was right. Things would change at first; things would be perfect once again. And then they would go back to the way things were at the moment. "I still love you very much, Clarissa. Just... as a couple... we don't work anymore."

Fin.