Chapter 6

Another question mark came back in a text.

The next second, Adrian called.

"Hayley, what do you mean by that?" His voice was low and cold, giving away almost nothing. I could tell he was annoyed.

I paused for a moment. "Exactly what it says."

The line fell silent for a long while. Then Adrian let out a faint, sharp laugh, as though he had just heard something amusing. It carried a note of condescending mockery.

"Fine, Hayley. You've really grown some nerve. A blind date, huh? Go ahead and meet him. Bring him around someday so I can have a look."

I did not respond. Adrian's reaction was more or less what I had expected: indifferent and dismissive.

He did not believe for a second that I was actually going on a blind date. He assumed I was only trying to provoke him, getting back at him for abandoning me on New Year's Eve to be with Rachel.

"Miss Hayley, save yourself the effort. That trick doesn't work on me." His tone stayed flat, like a man convinced he had already seen through my little scheme. "My patience has limits. I'll be waiting at the airport tomorrow. If you're late, that's on you."

I gave an absent hum. "Then you can keep waiting."

Then I hung up first.

…

The next afternoon, Adrian waited at the airport, failed to find me, and called again to demand an explanation.

I answered evenly. "If you never saw the text I sent before, I don't mind repeating it. We're over."

Adrian let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Breaking up again? How many days are you planning to keep this up before you come crawling back and beg me?"

The truth was, the times I had brought up breaking up before had been driven more by spite than anything else. I only wanted Adrian to fight for me. I wanted to hear him say, in his own words, that I was the one he cared about now, that Rachel belonged in the past.

But he never did. Even when he coaxed me back, his heart was never really in it.

Our relationship was like being caught in a powerful ocean current. Every time I gathered the strength to break free, it only dragged me deeper.

Three years were not especially long, but not short either.

Now, at last, I had made it ashore and could finally breathe fresh air again.

…

Over the next several days, Adrian went unusually quiet.

I took Isaac Calnan with me to the mall to help pick out a gift for Benedict Woolworth.

The Woolworth family and mine had once been neighbors and close family friends. Years ago, they had moved overseas and had not returned for a very long time.

This time, they were back because Ralph Woolworth's son, Benedict, had been transferred home for work. That was why they wanted to introduce him to me.

Not long ago, Isaac had happened to be in Norgona on a business trip. That night at the bar, if Adrian had not shown up, Isaac would have been the one to pick me up instead.

Afterward, we had planned to have a meal together. By pure coincidence, we ran into Adrian and Rachel at the restaurant.

When we stepped outside afterward, Isaac wore the expression of someone who had already put everything together. "That couple at the table next to us. You know them?"

I did not try to hide it. "My ex-boyfriend, and his ex."

The moment Isaac heard that, he became furious and tried to storm back inside to punch someone. I had to grab him to stop him.

Through the restaurant's glass windows, Adrian had stood there, staring blankly as the two of us struggled outside.

"Good thing you broke up. That bastard looked unreliable from the start." Isaac clicked his tongue twice. "That Woolworth guy seems solid, though. Hayley, don't let this one slip away."

I sighed helplessly. "It's just a meal to get to know him. That's all."

…

That evening, I gave Benedict the cufflinks I had picked out.

He and Adrian were completely different kinds of men. Benedict reminded me of a finely polished ruby, gentle and warm, with a quiet reserve beneath the surface.

During a lull in the meal, we chatted for a while. Then he suddenly asked, "Miss Calnan, would you like me to take a photo of you?"

"Huh?"

Benedict smiled, gentle and warm. "I just thought you look beautiful today. It would be a shame not to capture it. If you're not comfortable with that, though, that's perfectly fine."

I froze for a moment.

Of course I liked having my picture taken. Adrian had simply never had the patience to do something like that for me.

After I got home, I posted the photos Benedict had taken on my social media. One of them was a picture of the two of us together.

For the first time, Adrian actually left a comment: [Who's this guy? Someone new already?]

It was followed by a thumbs-up emoji. Every bit of it dripped with sarcasm.