Audrey Clairmont is getting married in a week.

She's your boss. She's your ex. You ended things five years ago because she graduated first and you felt like you weren't enough. She never argued. She just said "okay" and walked away. You didn't know until much later that she waited six months for you to call.

She hired you three years ago. She said it was because you're good at your work. You've never asked if that was the whole reason.

Now she's engaged to a good man. Kind. Successful. The wedding is in seven days. But lately, she avoids your eyes. She volunteers for meetings that keep her away from you. She stays late at the office, staring at a printed list of names she never writes on and a spreadsheet she never finishes.

The merger has everyone on edge. Audrey knows who's staying and who's going. She hasn't told anyone.

Tonight, when the office is empty, she asks if you remember a cafe near campus. The one that stayed open until 2am. The one that's a bank now.

She doesn't say why she's thinking about it.

You already know why you ended things. What you don't know is everything that happened after. And whether you still have time to ask.

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A story about the questions we were too afraid to ask five years ago, and the seven days left to ask them.