The Other Side of Goodbye

When I got home from work, I found Andrew Gunnell's keys by the door. Figuring he'd forgotten them, I called to ask if he wanted me to bring them over.

The moment the call connected, a burst of noise came from the other end.

"Andrew's in the bathroom. If you need something, just tell me. I'll let him know."

It was Gwen Spalding.

A chill ran through me, but I forced myself to stay calm. "Can you ask him if he left his keys at home? I can bring them over."

"No, he has his keys."

She paused, then seemed to realize what I was talking about. "Oh, you mean that keychain? I replaced it for him a while ago."

My grip tightened around my phone until my knuckles went white.

Andrew and I had bought that keychain one month into our relationship. We'd spotted one we liked at the mall, but it was way too expensive for us back then.

I could tell Andrew was embarrassed, so when I saw an almost identical one at a street vendor on our way home, I pointed to it. "Andrew, let's get this one. It looks exactly the same, and it's way cheaper."

His eyes had turned red, and he'd promised me that once he started making good money, he'd get me anything I wanted.

After that, he worked like crazy, enough that everyone around him started calling him a workaholic.

I checked the time. Andrew still had another two hours of overtime left. Yet somehow, he'd found time for Gwen.

"Forget it. Just tell him to come home early tonight. I need to talk to him."

Gwen paused for a second. When she spoke again, I could hear the smile in her voice, as if something had just clicked.

"Oh, Joyce. It's you. I thought I recognized your voice. Andrew doesn't have your number saved under your name, so I assumed you were just someone from work."

I'd noticed it a week ago. Andrew had deleted my name from my contacts and saved Gwen's as an affectionate "Babe."

When I called him out on it, he brushed it off like it was no big deal. "I'm pretending to be Gwen's ex, so I have to keep up appearances. It's just a contact name. Don't get so worked up over it."

I told him to change mine back. He kept promising he would.

A week later, he still hadn't. Gwen was still "Babe."

"Andrew's back. I'll put him on."

The moment I heard his familiar voice in the background, I hung up.

The sun was setting outside the window, but I felt cold to the bone.

A year ago, the day before Andrew and I were supposed to have our engagement party, Gwen's boyfriend had dumped her without warning.

Later, she was found in a hotel bathroom after cutting her wrists. The doctors had to fight to save her three times before she finally pulled through.

When Gwen woke up, she was confused and mistook Andrew for her ex. From then on, he went along with it, pretending to be her boyfriend to keep her calm.

I just didn't know when it had happened. Somewhere along the way, his fake relationship with Gwen had become real, and ours had become the one that felt fake.

I got up and went into the kitchen, where I spotted the half chicken I'd bought earlier.

Andrew loved my homemade chicken noodle soup.

"Old habits die hard," I muttered.

In the end, I still made a full dinner and waited for him to come home. I wanted to talk to him one last time and finally put an end to whatever was going on between the three of us.

But the hours passed, and he never showed up.

I picked up my phone, about to text him again and ask what was taking him so long. Then I saw a post Gwen had made ten minutes earlier.

Her caption read, "He says he can't relax until he sees me fall asleep."

The photo showed the back of a man I knew all too well. He sat there peeling an apple for her.

I opened my chat with Andrew again. My messages filled the screen, sent ten minutes ago, half an hour ago, an hour ago, even two hours ago.

I deleted every one asking, "When are you coming home?"

Then I typed one final message.

"Andrew, let's break up."