Chapter 5

Visiting Sandpiper Shores had always been my unfulfilled longing.

Last winter, I remembered spending the whole month excitedly planning the trip and even buying matching couple hats for Edna and me.

"Nothing's going to interrupt us this time, not even Nolan."

She had solemnly promised me back then, but just minutes before we were about to board the plane, his call still came.

I could still remember the way Edna's face drained of color after she answered. "Nolan got into a fight at the bar, and he's in the hospital right now… I have to check on him!"

She didn't spare a thought for how I felt. Without hesitation, she threw her suitcase aside and ran off.

Just like that, my much-anticipated trip to Sandpiper Shores fell through.

Though Edna apologized afterward, it became an unspoken agreement between us never to mention Sandpiper Shores again.

Sure enough, blue seas and clear skies were the best medicine for heartbreak.

I stayed in Sandpiper Shores for a week. All memories of Edna seemed to wash away with the rise and fall of the tide.

I stopped thinking about the past and simply focused on enjoying the breathtaking scenery in front of me, but unfortunately, someone just had to ruin the mood.

After Nolan found out Edna and I had broken up, he would occasionally send me updates of him and her. Sometimes it was a close-up of them sharing a cup of hot chocolate. Other times, it was a photo of Edna leaning against Nolan's shoulder, shot from behind.

The captions were always vaguely suggestive.

"Whatever happens, I'm here."

"Companionship is the longest confession of love."

I used to keep him around like some kind of digital pet and saved screenshots of every post. But today, it suddenly felt pointless, so I decided to block and delete him all at once.

On my first day back at work from vacation, I deliberately took a longer route.

The usual route from my place to the office led right past Edna's favorite coffee shop. She would stop there every single morning before work and buy coffee.

At this house, she would definitely be in line, so rather than risk running into her, I chose to walk an extra 20 minutes.

When I got to the office, my desk was piled up with snacks and thoughtful gifts from colleagues. It seemed as if the breakup news had spread.

A week off meant a lot of work had piled up for me. I had just finished sorting the files when Bruno Rivers sneakily sidled over.

He sneaked a glance at my expression, and after confirming I looked normal, he lowered his voice to say, "Zack, I heard you and Edna had a fight."

Without looking up, I corrected him. "Not a fight. We broke up."

Bruno scratched his head and hesitantly said, "In that case, the project between our team and theirs…"

"Follow company procedure," I cut in cleanly. "Sign whatever needs signing, and everything goes on as usual.

"What happened between the two of us won't affect work."

Though my breakup with Edna had ended ugly and embarrassingly messy, I wasn't so despicable as to make things difficult for her at work.

Work was work, and relationships were personal. I knew where to draw the line.

At the door of the pantry, I bumped right into Edna. She had heavy dark circles under her eyes, and her face was alarmingly pale.

I moved to step around her, but she suddenly reached out and grabbed my sleeve. "It's been days, Zackary. You should've cooled off by now."