I looked at the clock for the tenth time. it was midnight and he still isn't back home. Although he told me this morning that he would he home late because of an important work project, i didn't expect him to be this late. The dinner i cooked for him was still on the dining table but it was already cold. I was getting sleepy but i wanted to wait for him to come home. I decided to play some games on my phone, after a few rounds of flappy bird, i looked at the clock again. 1:00 am, this time i was getting worried. Did something happen on the way home? Is mark alright? I decided to call him to make sure everything was fine. I dialed his number and waited for him to pick up. After a few rings, he still didn't pick up and i was led to voicemail. I hung up the phone and decided to call his best friend and colleague, jackson. I knew it was too late to be calling him but i needed to make sure that mark was okay. after three rings, jackson picked up. 
"Hello?"
"Hey jackson its me. Im sorry for calling you this late but do you know where mark is? Is he still in the office?"
"No its fine i'm still doing my work anyways. Im in the office right now and mark isnt here, he left about 4 hours ago. Is he not home yet?"
"No he isnt and im a bit worried, do you think hes okay?"
"Yea im sure he's fine. Try calling janice, she and mark have been working on this big project and they might be together right now. Her number is ----------"
"Thank you so much jackson!"
After i hung up, i debated on whether or not i should call janice and i decided not to. I figured it was better if i just went to sleep.
Around 3am in the morning, i heard a small creak and i realised mark was home. He reeked of alcohol and i decided it was best if i just pretended to be asleep and left him alone for now.

--

I woke up early in the morning to make hangover soup for mark. I had to get to work early so i left the soup on the bedside table with a little note that says "drink up and have a good day! Love you. - your girlfriend." When i got home that evening, i saw the soup was untouched and the note was thrown in the trash can. It hurt me in every possible way but i decided to get over it. Im pretty sure he was just not feeling well this morning. I brought the soup to the kitchen and threw it away in the sink then washed the dishes. I brought out some ingredients from the fridge and started cooking dinner for me and mark. After i finished cooking, i left the food on the dining table and went to the living room to finish my work. 2 hours later, i finished everything up but mark still wasn't home. The food was slowly getting cold and i was hungry but i didn't want to eat without mark here. 11:00 pm, 11:30 pm, 12:30 am and mark still hasn't come home. He must be working late again, i thought. I reheat the food and ate a bit then left some for mark and placed a note on the table with the words "heres some food in case you haven't eaten yet. Sorry i couldn't wait for you." And then i went back to sleep.

--

A week went by and the same thing happens every single day. Mark and i barely talk and he never got home early. We saw each other less, we communicated less however what hurt me the most was that my feelings for him was still so strong yet he seemed to care less. The past 4 years of our relationships had its ups and downs however, it was never this bad. Every time we had a fight, we would make up an hour later. The first few years of our relationship was a fairytale. We never went by a day without talking or a simple kiss, so what went wrong? I looked at my phone lockscreen, it was a picture of mark kissing my cheek while hugging me. I still remember that day. I was upset about not getting a job and mark decided to take ,e out to the carnival to cheer me up. He played games and won a teddy bear for me and when he saw a photobooth, he dragged me there to take cute couple pictures with him. The first few pictures were goofy but for the last picture, he suddenly hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. It took me by surprise but that made me smile. I stared at the picture for a while and started smiling to myself, this was why i love mark. Despite what has been happening for the past week, i didn't want to let mark go, i wanted to save this relationship. Therefore, since it was my day off today, i decided to make a lunch box and visit mark at work to give him strength. I prepared sushi rolls and drove to his office. When i arrived there, i was determined to make things right and go back to the way we were. While i was walking to his office, i could see mark and a girl through the small windows. That must be janice. I was about to open the doors to his office when i saw mark and the girl suddenly kissing and they started making out. I dropped the lunch box to the floor and ran to the bathroom. This cant be real, no there is no way mark would do this to me. Maybe i saw it wrong. Maybe that wasn't mark, right, i was under a lot of stress so maybe i was just hallucinating. I reassured myself and walked back to his office. Before i reached his office, mark was already there, waiting for me. "We need to talk." He said with a straight face on. 

--

I sat on my bed and i was still crying. I couldn't stop crying. I took my suitcase from the closet and started packing up all my things. The words mark said to me were still playing in my head. "I think we should just end things. Ever since we moved in together last month, things changed. You were getting busier and so was i and we barely have time for each other. I started spending more time at work, more time with janice. Things got out of control one night and that was when everything started. Look, i loved you but i don't feel the same way about you as i used to. When i'm with janice, things are exciting but when i'm with you i feel.... I dont know... Bored?" I still couldn't believe he said that. Where was the mark i knew? I couldn't take it anymore, it was too painful for me to bear. After packing everything up, i left to my sister's house and decided to live there now.

--

3 months later 

There was a knock on the door and since nobody was home, i went to the front door and opened it myself. It was mark. 

"Hey, i came by to give you the rest of your stuff back."
"Oh, yea thanks"
"Look, i was a real jerk and i shouldn't have said those things to you. I was going way out of line and just so you know, i broke up with janice because i found out she was also screwing some other guy in the office."
"Yea, its totally fine, i mean i get you. No worries."
Before i was about to close the door he suddenly said, "i love you."
"What?"
"I still love you and i always will. Im so sorry about everything. Please take me back"
"I'm sorry but im already seeing someone."
"I guess i was too late... Okay see you around"
I gave him an apologetic smile and closed the door. I never saw him again after that.

-- 

5 years later

"KIDS! IM GOING TO THE SUPERMARKET SO PLEASE BEHAVE WHILE IM GONE!!" I shouted before leaving to go to buy snacks. When i reached the market, i took a basket and started picking out snacks for the movie night our family is going to have later. While i was walking, i accidentally bumped into someone and dropped my basket. "I'm so sorry, i didn't see where i was going." A familiar voice said. I looked up and there he was, my painful past. "Hey mark." He looked up and he seemed shock to see me but after he helped me pick up my things, he greeted me back.

"How are things?" He asked.
"Well... I'm married with two kids. What about you?"
"Married to my job"
I gave him a small laugh, i really did miss him and i won't stop loving him but i married the perfect husband and i have the greatest children and im happier than i have ever been.
"So i guess i'll see you around? Goodbye mark." 
I walked away with a smile on my face. I'm glad things ended well.