it. Robert was leaving? “Did he say where he was going?”
Eric shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry.”
“I have to catch him. If he’s selling his apartment, he could still be there. I just have to catch him.”
I raced for the door, ignoring Eric yelling at me to stop. All that mattered was getting to Robert before he walked out of my life forever. I just had to explain to him that this was all a mistake, that we could work this out. I knew we could.
I dialed his number as I drove to the city, but he didn’t answer, no matter how many times I called. Why wasn’t he answering my calls? If he really loved me, he would answer my damn calls!
I drove as fast as I could to the city, parking illegally outside his apartment building because I couldn’t find any parking spots. The doorman yelled at me as I raced through the building. It didn’t matter if they arrested me right now. I had to get to him. I slid into the elevator as the doors were about to close and waved at the doorman running my way. I hit the button for the forty-third floor and begged the doors to close before the doorman could stop me and have me hauled off by the police.
When the doors opened on the top floor, I ran to his door and pounded my fist against the door. “Robert! It’s Anna, let me in!”
Silence.
I pounded harder, sure that he was in there. Maybe he was taking a shower and couldn’t hear me. Maybe he had his earbuds in or was sleeping. “Robert, I’m not leaving until you answer this door!”
The door swung open, but it was a woman in a skirt suit that answered the door. “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Robert.”
“He’s not here. He listed the apartment this morning, and he had already moved all his things out so we could stage the apartment.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know, but even if I did, I couldn’t tell a random person.”
“I’m not a random person. I’m his babka!”
“I’m sorry, what?”
I sighed in frustration. “It’s like a latte and babka. They go together. He’s the latte and I’m the babka!”
“Be that as it may, he’s not here and I don’t know where he is. You’ll have to find your latte elsewhere.”
“He had to have left you a way to contact him,” I pleaded.
“He did, but I can’t pass that along to you,” she said, looking over her shoulder into the apartment.
“Is he…he’s in there, isn’t he? Please, this is my last chance. I can’t let him go without telling him how much I love him and want to be with him.”
“I’m sorry-“
“You don’t understand,” I said, raising my voice, hoping he could hear me in the apartment. “We were high school sweethearts and then we were torn apart for thirteen years! We found our way back to each other, but I was too stupid to see that it didn’t matter what our differences were. We belonged together. We still belong together,” I shouted. “I just need to apologize for not seeing that, for not knowing what he knew all along, that we were meant to be together. Please! I know he’s in there.”
“He’s not in there,” she said, trying to get me to calm down.
“Please, do you think I’m stupid? He’s in there and you’re protecting him from me. Just let me in there! Just let me see him.”
I shoved past her, slamming her against the door as I ran into the apartment. I ran through the empty kitchen and checked all the rooms leading up to his bathroom. The door was shut and I took a deep breath, knowing this was my last shot to make things right between us. I swung the door open and stopped in my tracks. There in front of me was a man, but it wasn’t Robert. He was dressed in a plumber’s outfit and he was doing something with the pipes.
“Can I help you?”
Shaking my head, I slowly backed out of the bathroom. He was really gone. He wasn’t here hiding from me. I made my way back out to the living room where the woman stood.
“I’m really sorry about that.”
She pursed her lips. “I told you he wasn’t here. You really need to go now. I have a showing in an hour, and I still have to do some finishing touches.”
I nodded and walked out of the building completely defeated. I had missed