Left to Drown In the Rain

Charlotte Henderson’s brows drew tightly together, her index finger tapping impatiently against the doorframe.

“So what if we can't go? Can't we just do it another day? Why are you giving me that attitude?”

My shirt was soaked through and clinging coldly to my skin. I could not stop myself from shivering.

Truthfully, I only wanted her to remember that today was the one and only date we had scheduled in three months.

I had reminded her so many times. I stuck a note on her refrigerator, I texted her, and I even reminded her in person two nights ago.

However, she still forgot about it.

“Gideon Ashby, when are you going to grow up?”

Charlotte looked at me, apparently about to say something else. Just then, Hugh Fenwick leaned halfway out of the apartment.

“Ms. Henderson, what took you so long?”

Then he saw me and paused in confusion. “Mr. Ashby? What happened to you?”

His eyes dropped to the wet clothes hanging off my body and dripping on the ground. Suddenly, he snorted with laughter.

“Look at you. Don’t tell me some woman stood you up? I remember you left at three this afternoon. I guess you looked so damn pathetic that you scared her off, huh? Hahaha.”

I instinctively looked at Charlotte. She turned her eyes away.

“Gideon, this isn’t really a good place for you to stay. You should go home and get some rest.”

Hugh laughed and casually draped an arm around her.

“Ms. Henderson, you’re seriously heartless. Sure, our team leader may be kind of a pushover, but he’s still your employee!”

He grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.

Then he crouched by the shoe cabinet and pulled out a pair of gray, fuzzy slippers.

“Gideon, you can wear my house shoes for now. They're a size eleven. They might be a little small, but they’ll do.”

He walked into the kitchen like he knew the place by heart, then came back moments later with a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

“You must be freezing. Here, warm yourself up.”

At that moment, takeout containers were scattered across the coffee table.

The ketchup stains on them were still wet, and a man’s cardigan was draped over the arm of the couch.

My voice came out hoarse. “You’ve already moved in?”

Charlotte’s expression instantly darkened. “Gideon, you’re crossing a line.”

However, Hugh’s ears turned red. “Gideon, you’re jumping to conclusions. Nothing’s even happened yet. Don’t make assumptions.”

He pushed me toward the bathroom.

“There are some clean clothes in the hidden compartment of the cabinet. Just wear those.

“Oh, right. If you need to shave, there’s a razor in the drawer too. It’s brand-new. Go ahead and use it.”

The door closed behind me.

Steam slowly filled the bathroom.

I looked around. A whole row of toiletries lined the shelves.

There were men’s oil-control shampoo and body spray, and wedged between them was a bottle of women’s facial cleanser.

I opened the cabinet. Sure enough, several sets of men’s pajamas were neatly folded inside the hidden compartment, their tags still attached.

There were also several bars of men’s soap.

Suddenly, I remembered how badly my stomach hurt last month. I had curled up in bed and texted Charlotte, asking her to buy me some medicine.

She had simply sent me money.

Charlotte: [Go downstairs and get it yourself. We’re still keeping our distance. It wouldn’t look good if someone saw us.]

I thought she was simply a woman with principles.

It turned out it was not true.

A man’s laughter came from outside. Though we were only separated by a single door, it sounded like a distance I could never cross.

Then my phone vibrated.

I unlocked the screen. The company group chat was blowing up.

Someone had taken a photo in the middle of the downpour. Charlotte had draped her coat over Hugh, shielding him from the rain.

The two of them walked side by side, step by step.

Messages were flying through the group chat.

[Wow, Ms. Henderson took Hugh to a concert! I was sitting right behind them! I saw her walk him out by the hand with my own eyes!]

[Hugh is seriously the luckiest guy alive! Where do you even find a woman like that?! Ahh, I'm fangirling too hard!]

[I freaking knew those two had something going on!!!]

I stared at the photo, at the way she carefully held his hand.

A thin layer of fog had gathered across the bathroom mirror, revealing my own pale, miserable reflection.

Ding.

Another message popped up.

[Do you guys see that little blue box sticking out of Ms. Henderson’s pocket? She’s totally giving it to Hugh, right?! It looks expensive!]

I closed my eyes.

Outside, the rain was still falling.