"How long? How long have you um..." Nella trailed off with a sudden laugh that shocked her. Her eyes were misty and it was only a matter of time before the floodgates of tears broke and plummeted down her face like waves. "This woman, how long have you... since when did you realize that you were in love with her?"
"That's not important, Nella, and you know that." He let her down easily, not because he didn't want to tell her but because he didn't see the point to it. He had already hurt her badly with this news, and speaking more on the subject would only aggravate and make things worse. "You're one of my best friends and that's the only reason I'm telling you this. It just can't work between us anymore."
"So, this is it? For both of us?" she persisted, hoping that he would at least change his mind or tell her that he was joking, to say the least. She wanted so badly for this to be a dream, a very horrible dream that she would wake up from when it was all over, but standing here looking at him was more reality than she expected.
Bryce nodded once. "Yeah. This is it for both of us. I'm really sorry and I understand if you don't want to talk to me after this or if you hate me. I deserve it."
She couldn't believe her ears. Bryce was apologizing? Sincerely? Who is this woman and what has she done to him? What did she change that even she wasn't able to? What button did she push that she wasn't able to find?
"It's fine," she stated at last, the tears rolling down her cheeks freely. "Thank you for at least telling me. I know how difficult it must've been for you to openly say this to me, so I understand, and it's okay."
She wiped the tears off her face aggressively. "I'll take my leave now." And with that, she walked out of the office without looking back.
The rest of the day felt like shit to Bryce. He couldn't work, neither could he concentrate on getting anything done. He felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders now that he had come clean with Nella, but the guilt didn't go away as quickly as the relief came.