53 Apologies and 1 Goodbye

The girl my lawyer boyfriend once defended, Chloe, put a thumbtack in my shoe, leaving me bleeding profusely.

My boyfriend apologized for her again.

The doctor was disinfecting and injecting me.

The needle went in deep, making me sob uncontrollably.

"Ethan, how many times have you apologized to me because of Chloe?"

He looked dazed, meeting my reddened eyes.

I told him, "Fifty-one."

On average, once a week.

This has been going on since he took Chloe's case, during our eighth year together.

It was spent enduring his endless apologies.