Today, Your Control Tower Goes Dark

Andrew's POV

I stood about six feet away, staring at the table for two.

The tomato bisque was Dylan Humphrey's favorite dish, while the steak tartare was Hayley Clark's must-order.

There wasn't a single dish I liked. And there wasn't a seat for me, either.

My legs started to ache from standing, so I went ahead, paid the bill, and then left. After all, I was the one who had suggested dinner.

Hayley and Dylan always flew together for work. To match their schedules, I had worked three extra shifts.

We had agreed not to talk about work at dinner. But all it took was one text about a shift schedule to leave me excluded from the conversation.

They were in the sky, while I was on the ground. I was the extra one.

As I scrolled through my phone mindlessly, I saw that our three-person group chat had exploded with messages.

Dylan had posted dozens of travel guides for Portside City, along with updates about recent flight routes and crew schedules. Mixed in among the colorful posts were cute stickers he'd made using Hayley's photos.

I kept scrolling. There were 82 new messages, but not one that I could join in on.

I switched to my chat with Hayley. The latest message was her reply that read, "I've landed safely."

Above that was my message. "I'm working the night shift tonight. I'm exhausted."

She had replied, "Okay", without even a period at the end of the sentence.

Still unwilling to give up, I kept scrolling until my thumb hurt. Eventually, I found one of her old voice messages from a very long time ago.

Back then, Hayley used to send me lengthy voice messages, telling me about the sunsets she'd seen above the clouds, or about the delicious food she'd tried, or about the future she imagined with me. Listening to them always made me smile.

Once, she flew through a violent thunderstorm. Extreme turbulence shook the entire aircraft, and the crew had even prepared their final letters.

Only after she landed did I see the message she'd left behind.

"To my dearest Andrew Kingston, if this plane really goes down today, my biggest regret is never getting the chance to marry you."

When had everything changed? Perhaps it was last month.

Hayley had flown to Lyonsdale, and I'd asked her to bring back a watch I really wanted. She said she had been too busy and forgot, and then she told me not to waste money chasing trends.

The very next day, Dylan casually handed me that exact watch. "Here. I got it at the duty-free shop. Thank your thoughtful girlfriend for going shopping with me, or I probably would've missed out on it."

Or maybe it started even earlier, when Hayley realized that Dylan understood her flight routes and her aircraft better than I ever could. All the breathtaking sights she witnessed and moving moments she experienced—whenever she had something she couldn't wait to share, Dylan was the one beside her.

A new message popped up in the group chat. Dylan had sent a review of a trendy coffee shop.

"Hayley, this place is insanely popular!"

"Okay. I'll make a reservation," Hayley replied instantly.

How thoughtful.

I stared at the screen for a long time before locking my phone. My empty stomach churned nauseously.

"Andrew? Weren't you having dinner with your girlfriend tonight?" a coworker had just woken up from a nap and asked me.

I made up a lie on the spot. "She had something urgent come up, so we ended early."

For the sake of privacy, Hayley and I had never made our relationship public.

He sighed and comforted me, "It's alright. Emergencies happen. Maybe it's easier to date a colleague. Isn't Hayley dating a guy from her flight crew, Dylan?"

My ears buzzed.

"What?" The word came out from my mouth hoarse.

"The three of you are so close. I thought you knew."

My coworker's surprised tone felt like a slap to my face. He added, "The two of them fly together all the time. I guess they eventually fell for each other."

I nodded numbly, my voice barely audible as I mumbled, "I guess…"

My phone vibrated with a call from Hayley. I answered, and her gentle voice came through, "Andrew, are you home?"

My chest was tight. At her question, my voice came out shaky. "Hayley, I just—"

"Andrew." She sighed. "Can you stop watching those relationship influencers online?"

I froze without responding.

She continued, "You always do this. You let people fill your head with ideas. You see one post online, and suddenly you think Dylan and I are excluding you or that I'm cheating on you. Back in college, Dylan and I studied aviation, and then you decided to join in too."

Her tone unconsciously turned strict, as if she were lecturing a child. "We have a meeting this afternoon. We don't have time for your drama."

A moment later, Hayley softened her tone again, like she was coaxing me. "Be good. I know I've been busy lately and haven't spent much time with you. Our next date will be just the two of us, okay?"

Then, she hung up.

I stared at the dark screen for five seconds. Then, I opened our chat and typed, "Let's break up."