All Chapters of I Was Never Part of the Squad: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I, Anna Harmon, had just finished replying to Rose Wilson when a private message from my boyfriend, Julian Dickson, popped up."You got laid off today, right? Since you're free anyway, do me a favor and pick up the cake on your way there."I stared at that message for a long time without moving. He knew I'd been laid off, but he didn't ask if I'd cried or what I'd do next.In his eyes, I'd simply ended up with some unexpected free time.I set my phone face-down on the table and sat there for a few minutes. But after a while, I still got up and headed out.At the bakery, the staff checked my order number before handing me a white gift box."It's a strawberry shortcake, with a congratulatory card for a promotion inside. Could you check that everything's correct?"I opened the box and looked inside. The card read, "Emmie, wishing you a bright future and even greater success in your career."I tucked the card back, picked up the cake, and headed to the riverside restaurant. When I

Emily's pajamas hung on the back of the guest room door, her skincare products lined up along the bathroom counter. Even the fridge was stocked with her favorite orange soda.As for the lemonade I always drank, it hadn't been in the fridge for a long time. Julian made dinner that evening.When Emily sat down at the table, she mentioned her stomach was acting up, so he slid the mildest dish right in front of her.Francis removed the peppers from her plate, whereas Henry pushed a glass of warm water toward her. "Eat slowly. You wouldn't want your stomach acting up again."I kept my head down and ate. After dinner, I brought the plates into the kitchen.No one asked me to do it or even reminded me. As long as Emily was around, washing dishes was just my job.She always said her hands were for drafting and she had just gotten her nails done. And Julian would say cold water didn't agree with her because her stomach was weak.They'd said those things so many times that even I had gott

Once the plane took off, I switched my phone to airplane mode.While I was still at the airport, I'd already blocked Julian, Emily, Francis, and Henry everywhere and left the group chat that had been part of my life for years. That left only four people in the group chat.They'd probably notice soon enough. But by then, I'd already be on my way to a new city.Rose was waiting for me at the arrivals exit. Seeing that all I had was one suitcase, she took my laptop bag from me. "Where's the rest of your stuff?""I'm leaving the rest behind for now."She gave me a look but didn't press me for an explanation. "The company's set you up with a short-term rental near the office. Once you get your bearings, you can take your time finding a place of your own."I gave a nod. Once the car got moving, I rested my forehead against the window.This city wasn't so different from the one I'd left behind. Cars were still backed up at the intersections, while the fading daylight gave way to dusk.

After joining Rose's company, I spent the first two days getting familiar with the project documents.The client had changed project leads twice, and the documents were scattered across several departments, with figures in the progress reports that wouldn’t reconcile.Rose handed me the files. "We originally planned to assign this project to someone else, but the client hasn't been happy with anyone so far. Take a look and see if you can handle it."I flipped through to the last page before asking, "Aren't we scheduled to give another presentation to them next week?""That's right.""Then we still have time."I reviewed the list of people in charge and their tasks, noting every missing piece of information along the way. That afternoon, I shared the new progress sheet in the project group chat.After looking it over, Katie Ruiz asked, "Anna, was this part something I missed earlier?""It's not that you missed it. The source data upstream simply changed. Get in touch with the su

Even after I turned them down, they still tried to reach me a few more times.Julian mailed my old books and photo albums to the company front desk. I asked Rose to collect the package for me. When I opened it, I found a letter inside.It was a very short letter. "These things belong to you, so I'm returning them. I'm sorry."I kept the photo albums and tossed the letter straight into the trash.Francis came by once after that.He didn't come inside. He just handed the security guard a paper bag. Inside were a few books I'd left behind during my college days.I accepted the books and asked the receptionist to tell him not to send me anything else.The receptionist asked if I wanted to return the paper bag. "There's no need."I took the books back to my office and waited until after work to open them.My name, which I'd written on the title page back in college, was still there, though the ink had faded a little.Flipping through, I found an old ticket stub slipped between the