Chapter 2

Three days later, I celebrated my 26th birthday.

Tamara showed up promptly at 6:40 pm.

She had a bouquet of white tulips—my favorite flowers—in one hand and a cake in the other.

"Look at the time. I'm not late, see? Flakers are losers, and I'm not keen on losing today."

I smiled briefly.

She arched an eyebrow at me and said snarkily, "You finally cracked a smile. You've been looking as sour as if someone stole your money for the past few days."

Melody and Derek also arrived on time.

Tamara pushed my birthday gift toward me—a wristwatch I'd been eyeing for a long time.

"When we walked past the display the other day, your eyes lingered on it, so I knew you liked it," Tamara explained.

She put the watch on for me, the pads of her fingers brushing against my wrist as she did so.

She commented, "Shane, it'd be in your best interests not to ditch me for another girl. Who else is going to make the effort to remember all your weird little habits?"

Derek jeered from the side, "Oh, hurry up and get married already instead of grossing us out with your PDA, you two."

I actually wavered right then.

Perhaps it was fine to just let the wedding home situation slide.

Then, just as I cut into the cake, Tamara's phone rang.

When she saw the caller ID, she chose not to pick up the call.

When it started ringing a second time, she simply set the phone face-down on the table.

"I'm not entertaining anyone else today," she declared.

I looked up at her.

She smiled at me and asked, "Didn't I tell you? The birthday boy gets top priority."

Then, Melody's phone started ringing too.

After answering the call, she said, her expression dark, "Ian received a wedding invitation from Jane and proceeded to drink too much."

Derek similarly received a voice message from Ian.

Ian sounded like he could barely breathe through his tears. "Don't come over, all of you. I just suddenly feel like a complete failure…"

Melody was already putting on her coat, saying, "I'll go check on him."

Derek hesitated for a couple of seconds before standing up too. "I'll go with you."

Tamara didn't move.

In fact, she spooned some fish onto my plate and said decisively, "The two of them will be more than enough to handle the situation."

I felt less bitter thanks to that, but ten minutes later, she started checking her phone again.

By the third time, I told her, "Just go if you want."

She frowned and asked, "What gave you that idea? I'm just replying to a message."

Five minutes later, she came out of the restroom with her car keys in hand and informed me, "I'm going over to check on the situation."

I stared at her and said, "You just told me that you weren't going to entertain anyone else today."

"I know."

"And you're still leaving anyway?"

She looked slightly annoyed, but she quickly suppressed her annoyance and leaned down to hug me.

She explained, "Ian's had too much to drink, so Melody can't handle him alone. Derek also mentioned that he keeps puking. I'm going to send him to the hospital, which will only take half an hour at most."

She even leaned down to kiss me on the forehead and added, "Leave me a slice of cake. I'll continue celebrating with you after I come back."

The door closed behind her.

Half an hour passed, then an hour.

A waiter entered the private room to ask if I wanted the dishes cleared away.

I replied, "Go ahead."

Just as he was about to clear the cake away, he hurried back with a delivery rider in tow.

"My apologies, Mr. Shea. The same customer placed two cake orders from the same shop, but the addresses were swapped in the system. This large cake should have been delivered to Seaglade Hotel while this small cake is yours."

The 12-inch cake he showed me was covered in Polaroid photos with a chocolate plaque sitting in the middle.

"Welcome back, Ian. Out with the bad luck. We'll always be here in the future."

Tamara was the one who'd placed the order.

Just then, my phone lit up too, revealing a new post from Derek.

In his photo, Ian was sitting in the middle of the group wearing a birthday hat. Melody was pouring him wine while Derek had an arm around his shoulders.

Tamara stood behind him with her head bowed, helping him adjust his lopsided hat.

The caption was a simple sentence that read, "The past is in the past. Time to start anew."

I looked down at the silver watch around my wrist, which gleamed dazzlingly under the restaurant's lights.

Tamara hadn't forgotten what I liked, nor had she neglected to prepare a surprise for me.

It was just that she also remembered what someone else needed more than me.