Chapter 4

The next morning, the coat was gone from my chair. There was no note, no mention of it. It was as if it never happened. Maybe I had dreamed it.

I tried to push it out of my mind, but the confusion lingered. I was walking past a conference room when I heard their voices. David and Emily. The door was slightly ajar.

"My parents are so excited to meet you this weekend," Emily was saying. "Mom has been asking nonstop about wedding plans."

"We'll talk about it this weekend," David's voice was low and intimate. "I want to do this right. I want you to have everything you want."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Wedding plans. It wasn't just a ring, it was a future. A whole life being planned right in front of me, a life I had foolishly imagined for myself. My hands grew cold. I felt like an intruder, a spy listening in on a world I would never belong to.

I backed away from the door silently, my face burning with shame and a fresh wave of grief. I walked back to my desk, my movements stiff and robotic. I opened a file, stared at the screen, and pretended to work. I had to maintain my composure. Just thirteen more days.

That night, I went home and couldn't sleep. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind racing. How was I going to do this? The plan had been simple: quit my job, move to a new city, maybe Florence, and finally pursue my passion for art history. But I hadn't thought about the details. I hadn't told my family. My mother would be devastated. She was so proud of my career, of the life I had built here. How could I tell her I was throwing it all away because of a man who didn't love me?

The next morning, I overslept. I woke up in a panic to the sound of my doorbell buzzing insistently. I threw on a robe and ran to the door. It was David.

He stood there, looking impeccable in a tailored suit, a frown on his face. "You're late. We have the Henderson presentation in an hour."

I stared at him, bewildered. "How did you know where I live?"

"Your address is in your employee file," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Are you going to get ready or are you planning on presenting in your bathrobe?"

His presence at my doorstep was a violation, another boundary crossed. He was here to make sure I wasn't late, a gesture that could almost be interpreted as care, but his tone was laced with the usual condescension. He was my boss, not my friend. I shut the door, my hands shaking slightly.

Later, at the office, Lisa pulled me aside. "What was that about this morning? I saw David waiting for you in the parking garage."

"He came to my apartment to make sure I wasn't late," I said, my voice flat.

Lisa's eyes widened. "Wow. That's... intense. You know," she said, lowering her voice, "everyone's been noticing how he is with Emily. The way he looks at her. It's so different from how he is with everyone else."

"I know," I said, looking away. "I know." Her words just confirmed what my own eyes had already seen. The evidence was piling up, crushing the last vestiges of my foolish hope.