My day was shot before it even started. All because of that empty chair. I kept staring at it, then at the clock. 9:17. Where was she? Adeline was never late. She was always planted at her desk before I even got here, usually with some terrible coffee waiting for me.
This whole thing was getting under my skin. For two weeks straight, she'd been acting like a completely different person. No more "good morning, babe" texts. If I asked her what she wanted for dinner, I'd get a "whatever." And forget about touching her. Last time I tried to put my arm around her, she jumped like I'd electrocuted her.
Did I screw up? Let me think. Her birthday's next month. Our anniversary... we went to that cheap Italian place, right? Maybe I said something stupid when I had too many beers last weekend. But come on, I always say stupid stuff. She usually just rolls her eyes.
Then there's the other thing. The one that really makes me sweat. Did she find my secret phone? No, that's buried deep in my gym bag. Did she see the texts with other girls? I delete those right after. She's not smart enough to recover deleted messages. At least, I didn't think she was.
The quiet from her desk was screaming at me. I couldn't take it anymore. I dragged myself over to Chloe's cubicle. She was doing her nails, some blood-red color.
"Hey," I said, leaning against the partition. "Is it me or is Adeline being weird?"
Chloe didn't even look up. "You mean her suddenly thinking she's too good for us? Yeah, I noticed. I asked if she wanted to get lunch and she looked at me like I'd just suggested robbing a bank." She finally glanced up, blowing on her nails. "My guess? She's stressed about being team lead now. Don't let it get to you."
Work stress. Okay, that made sense. Chloe usually knows what's up with this stuff. I started feeling a little better and turned to walk back to my desk.
That's when the front door opened and my whole morning went sideways.
There was Adeline. Walking in with Mr. Evans.
They were talking. He said something and she actually smiled. A real smile, teeth and everything. She hasn't smiled at me like that since... I can't even remember.
My feet just stopped working. Since when do they arrive together?
Then I really looked at her clothes. That blue shirt and those black pants... she was wearing that exact outfit yesterday.
My stomach did this nasty flip.
Wait a minute. Did she not go home last night?
No, that's crazy talk. This is Adeline we're talking about. Miss "I need eight hours of sleep." Miss "let's make a budget spreadsheet." She's not the type to pull something like this. But here she was, same clothes, walking in with the boss, smiling like she just won the lottery.
She went straight to her desk and started up her computer. Didn't look around. Didn't check if I was here. Nothing.
This was wrong. All wrong. I caught Chloe's eye and did that head jerk thing toward Adeline. Go talk to her, I mouthed.
Chloe sighed like I'd asked her to move a mountain, but she got up and walked over. I pretended to be busy at my computer, watching them. Chloe leaned on Adeline's desk, all friendly-like. Adeline didn't even look up from her typing. Said one short sentence, and that was it. Conversation over. Chloe stood there looking stupid for a second before coming back to her desk, giving me this "I told you so" look.
I was seeing red now. Who the hell did she think she was?
Just as I was about to march over there and demand some answers, Mr. Evans popped out of his office. "Adeline? Could I see you for a moment?"
She got up and followed him in. The door clicked shut behind them.
The door was closed.
I couldn't sit still. I got up and wandered over toward the printer, which just happens to be right near his office. The blinds were mostly closed, but I saw him hand her a small box. What was that? A gift?
My mind was racing now. A few minutes later, Adeline walked out and I almost didn't recognize her.
She'd changed clothes. Now she was wearing this fancy green dress that looked way too expensive for her usual style. My brain went to the worst possible place. She changed... in his office. She felt comfortable enough to change clothes in his office.
How close were they? Did he buy her that dress? My hands were shaking as I pulled out my phone.
Mark: Meet me out back. Now.
I paced behind the building by the dumpsters. The smell was disgusting. Five minutes went by. Then ten. Was she seriously ignoring me?
Finally, the door creaked open and she stepped out. She looked so calm it made me want to scream.
"What's going on with you and Evans?" I demanded, not bothering with any pleasantries.
She gave me this blank look. "What are you talking about?"
"Stop playing dumb!" I moved closer, right in her personal space. "You show up with him! You're wearing yesterday's clothes! You go into his office and come out wearing some fancy new dress! What, did he buy it for you? Are you sleeping with him?"
She didn't even blink. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, and turned to leave.
That did it. I completely lost it. I grabbed her arm and yanked her back hard. "You think I'm stupid?" I yelled.
My hand cracked across her face. Her head snapped to the side.
She stared at me, her hand pressed to her red cheek, her eyes going from shocked to pure fury. "I'm breaking up with you!"
The words hit me like a physical blow. "What?"
"We're done!" she screamed.
So it was true. She was cheating and now she was dumping me. The humiliation burned through me. "You ARE cheating! You're leaving me for him!"
"This has nothing to do with him!" she shouted back.
Liar. I raised my hand to hit her again, to make her take it all back.
Out of nowhere, something heavy smashed into the back of my head. The world exploded into bright white pain. My legs turned to jelly and I crumpled to the dirty pavement.
The last thing I saw before everything went black was a pair of men's fancy leather shoes standing right next to Adeline's feet.