3

Evan promised to go apartment hunting with me.

At ten in the morning, I waited for him at the real estate office.

At ten thirty, he said a meeting came up.

At eleven, he said it was almost over.

At noon, Nicole sent me a photo of a hospital hallway.

"Twisted my ankle carrying files. Evan insisted on taking me to get it X-rayed."

In the corner of the photo, Evan was crouched in front of her, tying her loosened shoelace.

I turned off my phone and signed the short-term lease on my own.

When I went back to the apartment, a building manager was carrying out a cardboard box.

My name was written on the side.

"Those are my things."

He looked confused. "Ms. Pearce said these were old clothes nobody wanted and asked me to donate them."

Inside the box were a sweater my mother, Janet Harper, had knitted by hand and the matching jackets Evan and I had bought during our first year together.

Beneath the clothes sat a torn-open kraft paper envelope.

Janet knew rent was expensive in Ashford and worried I'd be short on cash, so she had put fifteen thousand dollars inside, money she had scrimped and saved.

The envelope was empty.

When Nicole came back, I set the envelope in front of her.

"You opened my package?"

"I thought it was Evan's."

"My name is on it."

She rubbed her ankle, her tone casual.

"Must have missed it. They're just old clothes. I'll buy you new ones."

"What about the money?"

"What money?"

I stared at her.

She opened the envelope and only then looked surprised.

"I honestly didn't see it."

Evan pushed the door open.

After hearing what happened, the first thing he asked was whether Nicole's foot still hurt. Only then did he turn to me.

"There are files going in and out of this place every day. Grabbing the wrong package is perfectly normal."

"Fifteen thousand dollars is missing."

"I'll pay you back."

"That was my mother's money."

"Money is money, isn't it?"

He took out his phone to transfer the money. I pressed his hand down.

Evan looked exhausted.

"Mia, stop blowing small things out of proportion."

Nicole lowered her eyes.

"This is all my fault. Maybe I should move out?"

"With your foot like that, where would you go?"

He stopped her immediately, then turned to me. "You already signed a lease, didn't you?"

One sentence, and every word I had left died in my throat.

Suddenly, I saw how long ago everything had changed.

That night, I came down with a high fever.

I called Evan. He said he was at an important dinner.

I didn't want to go through Nicole again, so I went to a walk-in clinic alone.

Halfway through my IV, Haley sent me a video.

In a private dining room, a cake sat on the table. Nicole was wearing a paper crown.

Evan sat beside her, watching as she blew out the candles.

The bandage on her foot was already gone.

Haley unsent the video almost immediately.

"The team threw Nicole a belated birthday party. Don't read too much into it."

"Evan has enough on his plate. Don't make things harder for him just because you're sick."

In the early hours of the morning, Evan showed up with a bowl of oatmeal.

He touched my forehead.

"You're burning up. Why didn't you call me?"

The oatmeal was sprinkled with crushed peanuts.

I was allergic to peanuts.

On our very first date five years ago, I accidentally ate peanuts and ended up in the hospital. He stayed by my bed all night.

Now, he had forgotten.

I asked, "Is there anything Nicole can't have?"

"Bell peppers. Mangoes. She's allergic to penicillin too."

He didn't hesitate for a second.

The room went quiet.

He set the oatmeal on the table.

"We work together every day. Of course I remember."

The deadline to confirm the transfer was two hours away.

He noticed the page on my screen, and his tone softened.

"Go ahead and confirm it. Once you've moved to Ashford, we'll stop fighting all the time."

I didn't press the button.

He really thought our only problem was the distance.

Not the double standard, over and over again.

Not the fact that I had long since been placed last on his list.