When You Were Radiant

Silence stretched over the phone for a few seconds after I spoke.

Mom sounded caught off guard. "Lily, are you completely sure?"

I stared out the glass doors at the wall of rain and nodded. "I'm sure."

She didn’t pry into why I suddenly changed my mind.

"Start wrapping up your resignation," she said softly. "I’ll book your flight for three days from now."

"Okay."

When I hung up, Danny was still holding his umbrella tilted toward Maya.

His left shoulder was completely soaked. Maya looked up at him with a wide, effortless smile, chatting away.

That umbrella used to tilt for me alone.

Back in high school, when cramp pain left me doubled over, Danny carried me on his back all the way to the nurse's office.

He ran the whole distance, grumbling through his heavy breathing, "Are you stupid, Lily? Why did you wait so long to tell me about it?"

I cried onto his shoulder.

He slowed his pace, his voice softening. "Don't cry. One day, when I marry you, I’ll make sure you never have to hurt like this."

I held onto those words for years.

Then came college.

The power went out in my dorm one night, and I was terrified of the dark. I sent him a text.

He took a cab from his campus across town and sat outside my building, talking on the phone with me until sunrise.

"Don't be scared," he told me. "I'm right here."

Later, we landed internships at the same firm.

I brought him coffee every morning, and he would ruffle my hair, telling me I knew him better than anyone.

Before Maya was hired, everyone assumed Danny and I were an item.

After she arrived, that assumption turned into a joke.

Maya was stunning, bold and fiercely capable. She drew every eye in the room.

Danny hated her noise at first.

The first time she called him out in a meeting, he walked out with a storm on his face.

I ran after him with a bottle of water.

He took it and scowled. "She doesn't know what she's doing. She's insufferable."

I was foolish enough to comfort him back then. "Don't let her get to you."

Two weeks later, he texted me while working late.

Maya might be annoying, but she was a fast thinker.

Soon, he started forgetting my coffee orders but he always remembered Maya preferred an iced Americano.

My chest tightened as those memories surfaced, but this time, I didn't cry.

I walked back to my desk and opened a fresh resignation form. It was simple.

Under the reason for leaving, I typed out a few words. “Pursuing further studies abroad.”

The moment the system confirmed the submission, Danny and Maya walked through the office doors together.

Maya held two hot drinks.

She handed one to Danny, then glanced over at me. "Lily, did you get caught in the rain?"

Danny finally looked at me. His brow creased slightly. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

I closed my laptop. "I assumed you were busy."

Maya chuckled. "Danny was picking me up, so we got held up. The storm was brutal."

Danny didn't correct her. He just slid a box of tissues across my desk.

"Dry off. Don't catch a cold and expect people to take care of you."

A comment like that used to make me happy for days.

Now, it just sounded like pity.

I didn't reach for the tissues.

Danny’s face darkened. "Lily, what's your problem now?"

Head turns rippled across the office.

I tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear. "Nothing."

He stared at me for a few seconds, waiting for me to back down like I always did.

I kept my head down, organizing my files without looking up at him again.

Before the end of the day, Mom texted me the flight confirmation.

I stared at the screen for a long, long time.