Chapter 2

Aiden's POV

Bridget didn't say anything. Daryl kept his head down the whole time too, and the tension kept rising in the private room.

My phone rang just then. While making my way out to the washroom to answer it, I heard the people in the room whispering to each other.

The moment I stepped out and closed the door behind me, the tension inside the room melted away, and they began getting rowdy and excited once again.

"Alright, let's play blackjack poker this time! Daryl, you start first. Everyone, get into your own groups!"

Daryl then asked quietly, "Bridget? Have you taken your cards yet?"

"Yeah, hurry up. It's your turn."

I leaned against the door for a bit, trying to swallow the bitterness rising in my throat.

On the phone was the HR manager, Sarah Singleton, and she was repeating her question to me.

"Are you sure that you want to resign? But weren't you in line for the internal promotion to department manager next month?"

I shut my eyes and listened to the loud cheering in the room, congratulating Daryl and Bridget for winning the round, and sighed.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Sarah thought that it was a huge pity, but she still went through the relevant steps and procedures with me for the handover process.

When I finally walked out of the bathroom and returned to the room, I realized that it was all empty.

A waiter was clearing up the mess left behind. He was also very surprised to see me.

"Sir? Didn't you come with these people earlier? Ms. Ellison said that they were going to the beach nearby for a barbecue supper. They've already paid up and left."

I slowly unclenched my fists and sighed softly.

Bridget had forgotten about me again.

…

Since it was so late at night, I stood by the roadside, waiting for a long time before an Uber was willing to come and pick me up.

When I arrived home, Bridget suddenly called me. As soon as I answered the call, her loud, angry voice cut through the silence.

"Why the hell didn't you get into the car? Are you seriously throwing a huge fit like this just because Daryl drank a few sips of the peach frappe? Didn't you know that I was looking everywhere for you?"

I changed out of my shoes into my indoor slippers and replied calmly, "I was still in the washroom on a phone call earlier when you all left without me."

There were a few seconds of silence on the phone. When Bridget spoke again, her voice still sounded tight and angry.

"What the hell was that phone call for? Why did you take such a damn long time anyway?"

So, she still thought it was my fault.

A short pause later, she continued and said, "We're staying out here at the beach until sunrise. Just make do and get an Uber home by yourself."

Then, she hung up on me without even waiting for my reply.

I stared blankly at my phone screen wallpaper of me and her in our graduation gowns, posing for the photo.

She never let me "make do" while she was still pursuing me in college. When we ate together, it had to be at a place that I liked. When we went shopping together, she had to buy me clothes that suited me.

She also made sure to plan for my birthday at least two months in advance.

Bridget was the top student in the entire college, and she was also known for her extremely good memory.

If I just mentioned briefly that I like corn cheese burritos for breakfast, she would immediately buy it for my breakfast the next day.

If I randomly brought up that I felt like some Diet Coke but forgot about it later, she would buy me a bottle and even untwist the cap for me before handing it over while wiping off the sweat on her face, saying that she got me a bottle that was room temperature and wouldn't hurt my stomach.

I used to have some stomach issues in the past and couldn't take any cold drinks then, and she remembered it.

When graduating from college, I said that our rented graduation gowns looked very nice, so she bought a replica straightaway and said that we could wear them again when we had our wedding photos taken next time.

However, just last month, she found the gowns in a box and thought that they were our rented ones that we forgot to return, so she tossed them out because she thought they were taking up too much space.

Instead, they were quickly replaced with a box of neatly folded shirts, watches, and soccer player posters. Bridget told me that there were still a couple of months until Daryl's birthday, and she wanted to keep his birthday gifts for him here until then.

I nodded after staring at her blankly for a long while.

It was true that she had a very good memory. All the things inside the box were indeed Daryl's favorite items. She could remember everything about Daryl for life, it seemed. However, I was just a passerby in her life, someone she could just keep in her memories for a short while before I was kicked out.

…

Bridget and Daryl returned the next day at noon with huge smiles on their faces.

"Do you remember how we used to skip classes in high school just to get to that barbecue joint by the beach? You even tore your pants while scaling the school wall and had to lie to our homeroom teacher that a wildcat scratched you instead."

Daryl chuckled and nudged Bridget on the shoulder. "You still have the nerve to bring that up! It only happened because you had been pestering me for days to take you to that barbecue joint. I wouldn't have had to scale any walls otherwise!"

Bridget just stuck her tongue out at him before doubling over in laughter once again.

When Daryl turned around and saw me there, he smiled even more deeply and said, "It's such a pity that you couldn't come with us, Aiden. That beach barbecue was really one of the best ones I've ever had in my life."

I nodded at him before turning to look at Bridget.

"I've got something to tell you."

"Later. Look, Daryl purposely learned how to brew this at a cafe on the way back. He made two. This is yours."

She then stuffed a plastic takeout cup into my hands. I only just realized that she was holding another cup of java chip frappe in her other hand, and it was already half gone.

"Try it, Aiden," Daryl said. "I made this peach frappe especially for you. I even added another serving of peach syrup. Go ahead and try it."