“I love you Arlene!” He shouts, his voice breaking. The words rise to the vaulted ceilings and dance around the ornate, gray walls.

Arlene stands, a mere five feet from him, arms crossed over her chest. She regards him with a reserved look of bemusement.

“Dammit!” His hands clench in tight fights, falling to his waist, helpless. His voice catches and one hand flies up to his face, wiping quickly at the sudden wetness on his cheeks. “Can’t you see that? Can’t you see anything?”

Arlene’s lips twist in a pucker, but she says nothing. Jack trembles as the words hang between them. Shadows fall over their faces as the sun sinks lower in the sky beyond the cathedral windows.

“I have always loved you, from the start. From the moment you walked in on that very first day, twenty years ago, to this very moment. Arlene. My love never stopped. It never did. But I need to know. After all this time, I just need to know.” His voice cracks as his chest heaves, accentuating the muscles under his shirt. Sleeves folded to his elbows. His fists remain, but his fingers relax. His eyes are pleading with her.

Arlene crosses a leg over the other, staring at him. She feels something give in her chest, but she pushes the sensation away. Her eyes flicker to the dark, hardwood floors and then return to his.

“It was never about love,” she softly intones. The words are barely above a whisper. They shoot like pristine bullets, right into the center of Jack.

“Then what _was_ it about?” His voice is just a whisper.

Arlene’s eyes drop as she shakes her head. She searches in her mind for an answer, finding none.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” she finally says. She shrugs as she meets his waiting gaze.

“Oh?” He leans back, his arms now crossing over his chest. “_You_ don’t know what to tell me? After all these years. I get nothing?”

Arlene looks away again, her arms tightening. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she snaps at him. “It wasn’t about love for me, Jack. It never was. You knew that. You _knew_ I didn’t want you as a romantic interest. You _knew_ our friendship was just that. I don’t know what you want from me. I can’t give you what you want.”

Jack shakes his head slowly, his mouth ajar. His gaze turns cold and steely. “I…I can’t believe you.” His voice soft and weak. All the bravado has left him and he suddenly feels exhausted.

Arlene throws her arms up. “Then I don’t know what to say to you.”

“After all this time…” his words trail off. Suddenly, he’s at a complete loss for words.

“Jack. I really think you should focus on finding someone else.” Arlene regards him cooly one last time. She turns on her heels and stalks out of the room, swinging the large wooden door open. She doesn’t pull it closed behind her. Jack hears her heels clicking on the wooden floor, then down the stone steps, and eventually, out of the building.

Jack’s chest deflates as all the air he realized he was holding releases. He notices an ache, deep and longing and sorrowful, somewhere inside his chest that he can’t reach. His head hangs low.

As the sound of Arlene’s steps disappears, he moves towards the window. He leans over just so he can peer out enough to watch her. And there she is. Moving resolutely down the street. He watches her pull the door open to her car that’s parked along the side of the road and slide in. She closes the door, hesitating before the car comes to life. Jack sees her pull off, and as she drives past the building, he catches her wiping tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.