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No Seat for You at Thanksgiving
No Seat for You at Thanksgiving
作者: Seven Secs

Chapter 1

作者: Seven Secs
Talia froze, staring at me in shock.

Her lips parted. Nothing came out.

Beside her, Bastien's smile faltered, but he recovered quickly.

"I'm sorry, man. It's chaos in here before the holiday, and sometimes I speak before I think." He gave me an embarrassed grin. "But seriously, a decent guy like you will meet someone better. If your wife loses you, that's her loss."

Talia's hands faltered on the gift boxes she was arranging. One slid off the edge of the shelf, hit the floor, and burst open, scattering pie across the tiles.

Bastien rushed to her side. "Talia! Are you hurt?"

He took her hand, turning it over and checking it. "Did it hit you?"

"I told you to leave this to me," he fussed. "You're a surgeon. You're supposed to be holding a scalpel, not stacking boxes."

I stood at the counter, watching them.

One worried, the other indulged him. They looked like a couple who couldn't have been closer.

If only the woman hadn't been my wife of seven years.

Something heavy settled behind my ribs.

Bastien noticed me looking and flushed. "Sorry you had to see that. My girlfriend's a doctor. She's amazing at the hospital, but here she's all thumbs. Every time she comes to help, she makes twice as much work for me."

He was complaining, but his eyes were smiling.

Talia's face had gone stiff. She cut in abruptly. "Bastien, that's enough."

"Sorry," he said again, chuckling awkwardly. "Running a shop makes you chatty. I can't seem to stop talking to customers."

"It's fine. You're friendly."

My voice was so steady that even I was surprised. I looked from him to Talia.

"You two seem happy. How did you meet?"

Talia's head snapped up. The warning in her eyes was unmistakable.

Bastien, oblivious, smiled shyly.

"At the hospital, actually."

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  • No Seat for You at Thanksgiving   Chapter 14

    "But only to buy flowers."She nodded. "I understand. Goodbye.""Goodbye."She stepped outside, and the little bell over the door rang brightly.I watched her disappear around the corner. There was no satisfaction in it. No longing either.Only the quiet feeling that something which needed to end had finally ended.That night, after closing, I sat alone on a chair outside the shop. Streetlights glowed in the winter cold. Behind me, the windows shone warmly, and the air was filled with flowers.I had a future that belonged to me.My phone buzzed.A message from Daphne.Wes, big order coming in tomorrow. You in?I laughed and typed back:Absolutely.Then Diane sent a message.Wes, seeing you today made me so happy.It made me happy too, I replied.I looked up at the night sky and remembered that Thanksgiving when I'd stood in Bastien's bakery, watching Talia beside him. I'd thought my world had ended.But when your world falls apart, you can still find your feet.You ca

  • No Seat for You at Thanksgiving   Chapter 13

    "Leave him alone. Don't come here bothering him."Talia lowered her eyes."I know. I won't stay long."Then she looked at me. The old assumption that I'd always be there was gone. She seemed almost afraid to speak."Wes. Congratulations on opening the shop."I glanced at the gardenias. "Thank you."She set them on the counter without trying to come closer."I also wanted to say something to you in person. I'm sorry."I gave a faint smile. "You've said that many times already.""I know." Her voice was rough. "But before, every time I apologized, I was hoping you'd forgive me. That's not why I'm saying it today."She looked up. Her eyes shone."I've finally understood that you have every right not to forgive me."Diane quietly wiped her eyes. Conrad turned away.I watched Talia without anger."How are you doing?"She looked startled that I'd asked."Not well," she admitted eventually, with a rueful smile. "But I'm getting by. I don't operate nearly as much. I have more ti

  • No Seat for You at Thanksgiving   Chapter 12

    Occasionally, though, mutual friends brought me news.Talia hadn't been fired. She'd been reassigned to a less prominent department, where she no longer led major operations. The path to hospital leadership was closed for good, and most of the people who used to surround her had drifted away.She'd always been proud. It couldn't have been easy.But what of it?She'd lost prestige and a career opportunity. I'd lost my mother, ten years of my life, and the younger man who'd once believed she was his whole world.I wasn't going to compete over who'd suffered more.Bastien closed the bakery too.He didn't simply disappear. He refunded his remaining orders and posted another apology video. His face looked exhausted, his eyes swollen."I genuinely didn't know she was married," he said. "But I did enjoy being the person she chose to favor. I have to take responsibility for my part in this."Some people continued attacking him. Others said at least he'd owned up to what he'd done.Ev

  • No Seat for You at Thanksgiving   Chapter 11

    "If it hurts enough, something in you dies."I turned to leave, but Talia spoke again."I found out afterward," she said. "On the day your mother died, you called me thirteen times."I stopped.The memories came rushing back: the harsh smell of antiseptic, the hospital corridor, my phone pressed to my ear, one unanswered call after another.Eventually she'd sent one short message.Busy. Stop it.I'd sat there gripping my phone and crying until I could barely breathe."I was with Mrs. Delorme that day," Talia said, her voice breaking. "She'd just finished some tests. Bastien was terrified. I figured you had other doctors there, so it would be fine. I thought...""Don't."My throat tightened."Talia. Every one of your 'I thought's was a gamble with my mother's life and mine."She went white.I didn't look at her again."Don't bring up my mother. You've lost the right."This time I walked away without turning around.I later heard that Talia sat alone in her car until dark

  • No Seat for You at Thanksgiving   Chapter 10

    I gave the albums and message records to Mr. Corcoran.After reviewing them, he looked troubled."This is more than enough. If Dr. Rademacher hopes to end this without public humiliation, I'm afraid that ship has sailed.""Then she doesn't have to save face," I said.Within days, the hospital announced the results of its preliminary review. Talia was suspended pending investigation and temporarily stripped of her departmental management responsibilities. Her recommendation for an associate chief medical officer position, once considered almost certain, was withdrawn.The reputation she'd spent years building collapsed.Some people said she deserved it. Others argued that a surgeon's private life shouldn't matter if she was good at her job.But I knew this wasn't about her private life. It was about a line no decent person crosses.She'd turned away when her husband's mother was dying, then bent every rule to help a man she wanted to impress. Her so-called principles had been fa

  • No Seat for You at Thanksgiving   Chapter 9

    Bastien stared at the suitcases by the wall."You're moving out?""Yes. Once the divorce is final, I'm selling the house."He nodded and looked down."I'm sorry."It was his second apology. Strangely, his regret sounded more genuine than anything Talia had said.I set a glass of water in front of him."You don't have to keep apologizing. If you really didn't know she was married, she deceived you too."Tears slipped down his cheeks."But I still hurt you. I stood right there calling her my girlfriend. I told you your wife didn't deserve you. I made a complete fool of myself."I said nothing.He let out a bitter laugh."Not just that day. For the last two years, I've been making a fool of myself.""Two years?"He blinked, then went even paler."We met four years ago. We've only officially been dating since last year. But I was in love with her from the time my mother left the hospital. She kept pulling away, then coming close again. She said she was busy. She said she did

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