Chapter 2

Two days later, I finally sent my reply to that heavily delayed email: [I accept the three-year on-site assignment.]

I had only lent my girlfriend to Jake for a single night. Nora was the one who decided to lend him my status as her real boyfriend, too.

When Lyla started relentlessly harassing Jake, Nora did not bother consulting me. She simply had Jake move into the apartment we shared.

By the time I got home from work, the smart lock had already been programmed with his thumbprint. His sneakers were sitting in the hallway, his toiletries were lined up in our master bathroom, and all of my stuff, my pajamas, my razor, and my toothbrush had been banished to the guest bedroom.

Jake hovered near the door of the main bedroom, keeping his voice low. "I should take the guest room," he murmured, "I mean, this is still your place with Wesley."

Nora shook her head. "The main room has its own lock and a private bathroom. It’s safer for you."

Then she turned her eyes to me. "Wesley, you're adaptable. You don't mind crashing in the guest room for a few days, do you?"

I stared down at my belongings piled high in a suitcase, my mind flashing back to the day we first moved in together. Nora had wrapped her arms around me from behind, laughing as she whispered, "This is officially our home now."

Now, with a casual remark about how adaptable I was, she was kicking me out of our home.

Jake looked down at the pile of my displaced belongings. "Just for a few days," he repeated softly.

Then, he rolled his luggage straight into our main bedroom.

He hadn't brought any clean clothes, so Nora went to my closet and pulled out a brand-new set of men's pajamas. "Wear these for now," she said.

My chest tightened as I recognized them instantly. They were the fifth-anniversary gift she had ordered for me. I had only seen the order confirmation on her phone, and I hadn't even gotten the chance to unbox it yet.

Jake clearly recognized them, too. He held the neatly folded fabric in his hands, staring at me for a long beat. "Wesley, I'll buy you a new set to replace these, I promise."

Yet, he didn't set them down.

That night happened to be our five-year anniversary. Nora had made reservations at a nice restaurant a month in advance, where a small chocolate cake, my favorite, sat on the table. She had promised me that tonight would be strictly about us, with no mention of Jake.

The moment our candle was lit, her phone buzzed.

Jake’s voice came through the speaker, tight with suppressed panic. "Nora, she sent another threatening text. I know you’re out with Wesley right now, but I’m terrified to be here alone. Can you please come back?"

He knew what today meant to us, yet he still called my girlfriend away the exact second our candle was lit.

Nora stood up immediately. She sliced off the first piece of cake and pushed it toward me. "Give me thirty minutes," she said, "I just need to make sure he’s okay, then I’ll come right back."

I waited from dusk until the restaurant staff started turning off the lights. The candle burned down to nothing, the whipped cream melted into a mess, and I didn't take a single bite.

Nora never came back.

It was past midnight when I finally walked through the front door of our apartment.

The door to the master bedroom was cracked open.

Jake was wearing my anniversary pajamas, sitting on the bed Nora and I had shared for three years. Nora stood behind him, gently drying his damp hair with a towel, her movements delicate as if she was afraid to hurt him.

"I shouldn't have called you away when I knew it was your anniversary," Jake muttered, looking down, "You should go back and be with Wesley."

Even as the words left his mouth, he reached up and grabbed Nora's hand.

"It's just... Can you please not leave tonight?" he whispered, "Every time I think about you going back to him, the engagement party feels like a fever dream."

Nora went silent for a moment, then squeezed his fingers back. "That night wasn't an act. Since we already crossed that line, I’m not going to treat you like a borrowed boyfriend anymore."

Jake’s eyes turned red. "Then what about Wesley?"

Nora didn't answer for a long time. Finally, a heavy sigh escaped her lips. "Wesley is stronger than you are. He'll understand."

Just because I was stronger meant that the main bedroom belonged to Jake, our fifth anniversary belonged to Jake, and even the girl I had loved for five years could be handed over to Jake first.

Jake didn't tell her to leave again.

I didn't push the door open.

I walked back into the guest room, opened my laptop, and signed the final electronic contract for the three-year assignment. Then I opened my profile settings and completely erased both Nora and Jake from my emergency contacts.

While they were busy pushing me out of our bedroom, I began quietly packing myself out of their lives.