Chapter 4

I was pulling a late shift at the office, trying to iron out a bug in the new level's physics engine. My phone buzzed on the desk. It was a notification from Nicole.

A selfie. Her and Ryan, at a fancy cocktail bar. She was holding a martini, smiling brightly at the camera. He was leaning in close, his arm around her, a possessive smirk on his face. The caption read: "Sometimes you just need a friend who gets you."

It was a clear, calculated provocation. A year ago, even a month ago, this would have sent me into a spiral. I would have been blowing up her phone with frantic texts, calling her over and over, my mind racing with a thousand worst-case scenarios. My work would have been forgotten, my night ruined.

I looked at the picture. I saw the expensive cocktails, the deliberate pose, the desperate attempt to get a rise out of me.

And I felt... nothing.

A strange sense of detachment washed over me. It was like watching a movie I'd seen too many times. I already knew the ending.

I typed out a reply.

"Cool. I'm busy with this new project."

I hit send and put my phone on silent, face down on the desk. Then I turned back to my work. The lines of code swam back into focus. The bug I was chasing was a complex, interesting problem. For the first time, I realized how much mental energy I had been wasting, how much of my brain had been dedicated to obsessing over her every move, her every text, her every "friendship."

Now, all that energy was mine again.

I worked until 2 AM, completely absorbed. When I finally packed up and drove home, the apartment was dark and empty. She wasn't there.

I got into bed, stretched out across the entire mattress, and fell into the deepest, most peaceful sleep I'd had in years.