Chapter 2

The landlord and the new prospective tenant exchanged an awkward glance, mumbled a polite goodbye, and hurried off.

I curled up on the couch, staring at their latest posts on social media.

Right after landing, Adrian and Maya went straight to the exact coffee shop from the food reel, laughing hysterically into the camera. The Airbnb they booked was even the same one I had shared in the group chat days ago.

So, they had seen my messages. They just didn't want to reply.

I frantically wiped away the moisture welling up in the corners of my eyes, blocked their feeds, and stood up to pack my things for the move.

Four days later, Adrian called me.

"Emery, are you off work?

"Maya and I just landed, and we brought you back some souvenirs. Let's go check out the new place together. Didn't you say you had something important to tell me?"

I glanced out the window at the pouring rain.

"Yeah. But it's hard to catch a ride in this rain. Swing by and pick me up on your way."

Silence on the other end.

After a long moment, Maya's timid voice came through the phone.

"Emery, can you just call a rideshare to the new place yourself?

"Adrian's cooking for me at my place right now. If he drives over to get you, it's just going to be out of the way in all this traffic."

My tone dropped cold.

"Didn't he just say he landed? Then let's reschedule."

Without another word, I hung up on them.

Adrian's text popped up immediately: [Don't lose your temper at Maya over something so trivial. I'm coming to pick you up right now.]

It made me laugh out loud.

[Don't bother. Besides, it's the first time I'm ever hearing that you know how to cook.]

[Let's push it to another day, I don't feel like going out today.]

Adrian didn't reply.

Two hours later, the doorbell was hammered on frantically.

Adrian shouted my name from the hallway.

I yanked the door open, my brows knitted together.

"Did you even read my text? I said I didn't want to go out today."

Before I could say anything else, Adrian grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the house.

"Stop throwing a tantrum. Maya had a stomachache on the plane. I was just making her some chicken soup.

"I tried to tell her to stay home and rest, but when she saw that you were mad, she insisted on coming along. You need to talk to her, or she won't be able to rest properly."

I stayed silent, yanking my arm free from his grip and rubbing my reddened wrist.

I grabbed my bag and followed Adrian downstairs.

I didn't even glance at the front passenger seat, moving straight to the back and sliding in with practiced familiarity.

It was because I knew for a fact Maya would take the front.

Sure enough, seeing that I didn't fight for it, Maya twisted around from the passenger seat and offered a sheepish smile.

"Emery, sorry about this.

"I'm feeling so awful, I just didn't want to move. Thanks for being cool with taking the back."

I murmured a flat affirmative, letting that count as my reply.

Noticing my icy attitude, Adrian shot me an annoyed glance.

While driving, he tried to smooth things over.

"Emery, Maya was just worried we'd have bad blood over this trip thing. She felt sick and still came along just to explain herself.

"Are you... Going to say something?"

I leaned my head against the car window and answered flatly, "Nothing to say."

My blunt reply left Adrian speechless.

He offered an awkward laugh and turned back to chat with Maya about something else instead.

As they kept talking, the conversation drifted right back to their trip.

"Adrian, do you remember when we fed the pigeons by Green Lake?"

"How could I forget? Those pigeons swarmed all over me. I nearly fell into the lake! And remember when we tie-dyed the shirt? You got dye all over my face!"

"You have some nerve bringing that up! You ruined my dress. I couldn't wear it ever again!"

…

They went back and forth.

Every word cutting straight into my ears. It felt no different from being stabbed with needles.

Once Adrian finally grew tired of talking, he seemed to suddenly remember that he had a girlfriend sitting in the back seat.

"Emery, maybe next time the three of us can take a trip to Tibet.

"Didn't you say work has been stressing you out lately and you wanted a real break? By then..."

I didn't want to listen to another word, cutting him off cold.

"We're here, let's get out."