Lost Traces of Love

I did not walk through the door and turned away to leave. It took 20 minutes after I went downstairs before Erica Livingston realized I was gone.

[Where did you go? Everyone is in their seats. Is this all because of a pair of house slippers?]

I did not reply and just sat in the hospital while I looked down at my leg. Blood was seeping through the bandage, and it hurt.

Three days ago, Erica and I were inspecting a construction site when I was hurt by shards of broken glass. When I fell, Erica was the person closest to me, but she did not even bother to help me up. "Remember to submit the application for your medical leave to make it official."

That was the only thing she told me that day.

She had been giving me the same attitude for the past three years. She would maintain her distance in public and keep proper boundaries between us.

However, when Ryan Strobe had a splinter in his finger, everyone watched as Erica tended to his wound personally and took ten minutes to bandage it.

"Why aren't you picking up the phone, young man?" The doctor who was helping me with the bandage glanced at my ringing phone. "Did you have a fight with your girlfriend?"

He looked at the numb expression on my face and sighed. "It's fine. Relationships are like that. Fix your mistake if you did something wrong, and if you're not wrong, get a better partner."

The doctor flung the bloodstained cotton bud, which flew through the air and landed precisely into the bin. I laughed wholeheartedly while trying to stop my hands from trembling.

He was right. It was time to end this relationship.

I turned off my phone after that and only turned it back on when I got home. The first notification to pop up was dozens of missed calls from Erica. The second was an update from Ryan's social media account.

[Got so drunk that I couldn't think straight. A big thanks to my boss for taking care of me!]

The post was accompanied by dozens of photos, which included a pair of his and her toothbrush sets in the bathroom.

[Wow, you have such a considerate boss. She has so many men's toiletries prepared in the house.]

[Look at the toothbrush and those cups. Those are meant for couples. You're a lucky guy, Ryan!]

Everyone in the comments section was teasing him about it, but Ryan replied: [Stop making fun! She has a boyfriend!]

[Boyfriend? I've been with the company for years, and I've never seen her with a boyfriend.]

Someone replied right away: [He's right. Ms. Livingston is an exceptional woman. You're lucky to be with her!"

For years, Erica had always given everyone the impression that she was a single, powerful career woman, and no one had ever thought otherwise because she hid it well.

I no longer wanted to play along with her, and I gave Ryan's post a thumbs-up emoji. One minute later, Erica called me again. "Ryan didn't post that on purpose. You shouldn't let it bother you just because he's young and direct. I only bought those things because he likes them," she explained.

Erica had allowed Ryan to leave traces of himself around in her space just because he liked those things, but when it came to me, all she said was, "There were a lot of people around today, and I had to make sure no one suspects…"

"That's why I left," I interrupted her calmly. "The best way to make sure no one suspects is if I don't show up, isn't it?"

There were several seconds of silence. "Don't be sarcastic with me, Hunter. I told you plenty of times that I'm doing this for us…"

"Erica, do you keep the towels on the left side of the cupboard?" A crisp voice rang out in the background, and Erica hung up on me right away.

I was suddenly reminded of how she had bought a disposable towel from the convenience store downstairs when I stayed the night in her house previously. It took one use for my body to be covered in rashes.

The memory made me laugh self-deprecatingly. I no longer hesitated to make the call. "Mr. Quentin, I've thought about your offer, and I'll be accepting it. I can start next week."