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They’d wrapped season 12 without much fanfare, and to be honest it was for the best with their two main costars still not on speaking terms. He thought it might get better after they talked, after he had a chance to explain how the negotiations had gone south, but it just got worse. A month into the summer hiatus and she was still giving him the silent treatment. In retrospect it would turn out to be the wrong decision, but at the time he felt like she needed space.
When she returned from break there was a book with a black and white ribbon tied around it set on top of all her mail. She carried everything over to her spot by the window, opening the drapes before getting comfortable on her long pink couch. Setting the letters to the side, she fished a tiny card out from under the neatly tied bow. It was from Dann, of all people. She read the front cover - Trust Again: Overcoming Betrayal and Regaining Health, Confidence, and Happiness - and then threw it across the room violently. Mariska just stared straight ahead, not moving or saying anything for an unusual amount of time.
Finally she shook herself out of her emotional fog, blinking her eyes several times to refocus before hoisting herself up and going to retrieve the now tattered book. She awkwardly bent to grab it off the floor where it had fallen behind a chair, ripping the cover in the process. Pulling it up, she held it in her hands, one finger trailing roughly over the damaged words. Tears slipped down her cheeks and onto the green and white dust jacket. “He’s gone,” Mariska whispered to no one.