Charles stands in the bathroom mirror, just staring at the reflection but not recognizing the tired, run-down shell of a man looking back at him. He is replaying Claire's words repeatedly in his mind, "I no longer want to be married to you. I am leaving and taking the boys with me." He remembered the pain he felt in that moment. Charles couldn't breathe and felt like a cement cinder block had just fallen on his chest. Charles was attempting to be strong in the face of those words slicing through his body like swords. But his eyes stung from trying to hold back the waterfall that was sure to come if he moved even an inch. People always said when they had a near-death experience their lives flashed before their eyes. Charles now understood that feeling. His mind was racing, reliving the last 15 years with Claire in those 30 seconds after she'd dropped this bomb on him. In those memories, they seemed so happy, to him at least. He saw the first moment that he'd laid eyes on Claire. How beautiful she was. He remembered her gliding down the aisle at their wedding.
