I looked over the email once again, making sure that I was reading it correctly. The letter was from Saint Louis University, a prestigious private college in Saint Louis, only an hour and a half away. Reading it one last time, I confirmed that it was, in fact, a job offer. I was being offered what I'd dreamed about since I began my undergraduate degree: a tenure-track job. They'd gone over my previous work, and my upcoming book was already making waves; the archeology department there was very interested in bringing me on board. This was big- it was a job that might, after a few decades of hard work, result in m being named the head of the department. Perhaps even dean, in time. It was a career-defining job

The semester was almost over, and soon Roxanne and I would be parting ways. Standing up from the computer, I took my coffee cup into my hands as I considered my future. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was growing accustomed to Roxanne. Our fake marriage arrangement was meant as nothing more than a way to keep the heat off of us until the semester ended, but now that I had another job lined up, there was no need to continue the charade once the year ended. I'd be in Saint Louis, and she'd be off to whatever graduate school she wanted.

And this thought seemed to cause me nothing but pain.

I scolded myself for getting into this position, for falling so hard for a student who was almost a decade younger than me. I deserved some kind of consequence, some kind of punishment for doing something so foolhardy. But instead, I was being rewarded. All I needed to do was to tell Roxanne that this was all soon to end.

But I had time before I needed to respond to the job offer, but I needed to talk to Roxanne about it now.

Heading into the living room, I came upon Roxanne and Darla sitting together on the couch, watching the same cat cartoon that Darla had been obsessed with.

"Want to join us?" asked Roxanne with a smile on her face, knowing that I had taken just about as much of cat cartoons as I possibly could. "It's just started."

"Come with me to the kitchen for a minute," I said.

Roxanne crinkled her brow and got up, following me into the other room. She took a seat at the kitchen island and I sat next to her.

"I just had a recent development that I think you ought to know about," I said.

"Oh?"

"Well, I just got an offer for another job.'

"Another job?" she asked. "You mean, not in Columbia?"

"That's exactly what I mean. It'd be in Saint Louis."

I then told her all of the details.

"But this is good for you," I said. "It means that you'll be able to stay here and continue your studies without having this whole issue to deal with."

"This ‘issue'?" asked Roxanne, her eyes narrowing in anger. "That's all you think this is?"

"I mean, I have a certain fondness for you, sure, but this can't go any further than it already has. You're a young girl, you should be with someone your own age. Not to mention that as long as we stay together this scandal will follow us everywhere we go."

Roxanne was speechless. And I was getting there, too. I had more than a "fondness" for Roxanne, but I knew that this little arrangement that she and I had wasn't meant to be.

Or was it? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having second thoughts. I knew I had to stay strong, however; what other option did I have? Marry her?"

Roxanne said nothing, tears forming in her eyes. Finally, after a time, she spoke.

"I don't know…I thought that…I don't know."

I reached over and placed my hand on hers.

"It's tough, I know, but it'll be for the best. You don't need the kind of stress that this relationship would bring."

A tear streaked down her lovely face, and I quickly fetched a napkin and handed it to her.

"Well, when do I leave?" she asked.

"When the semester's over at the end of the month. I'll pay for you to move back into your apartment, and Darla and I can get ready to move. And if anyone asks about you and me, we can just say that things didn't work out."

"But they are working out," she said.

These words cut me right to the quick. It's true that my time with Roxanne had been some of the happiest in a long time. But I needed to be strong for the both of us.

I sighed. "And the manuscript for the book is just about done. Think of grad school- with that on your CV you'll be able to go wherever you want."

"I don't want to go anywhere else!" she said, standing up. "You don't get it!"

She shoved her hand into mine, and that was the end of the conversation. When I looked down at my hands, I saw that’d she’d removed the engagement ring and given it back to me. I looked over it for a time, a heavy sadness forming in my heart.

Roxanne said not another word to me the rest of the day, instead studying and getting her things together. I suppose that she wanted to be ready to leave as soon as possible.

The rest of the semester passed by in a blur. The manuscript was sent off, and the publisher was in love with what I had. A publication date was set for the spring and, just as I'd promised, Roxanne's name was on the cover as a co-author. I told Darla about our new plans for St. Louis and the first question out of her mouth was if Roxanne was going to come or not. When I told her no, Darla was beside herself.

Soon, the end of the month arrived, and Roxanne was moved back into her apartment. Her parting with me was cold and swift, but her parting with Darla was anything but. The two girls cried many tears, and only with a stern command was I able to have Darla let go of Roxanne.

I watched Roxanne leave with a sadness of my own, not knowing if I was doing the right thing, but certain that there was nothing I could do about it.