Eight Years Later I No Longer Love You Chapter 03
Adrian hadn’t been home in days.
The first day, he sent one line.
【Don’t start with me before the show. You’ll throw off my head.】
After that, nothing.
I saw a story he posted on Instagram, of a conference table buried under coffee cups and takeout boxes.
The caption read: 【Final sprint. No one drops the ball.】
Someone in the comments teased him: 【Adrian’s basically moved into the studio at this point.】
His reply was casual.
【Beats going home to someone throwing a tantrum.】
In his eyes, I was down to one word. Annoyance.
I turned off my phone and pulled the office keycard out of the drawer.
He’d given it to me in the second year of his startup. Back when I would clock out of my day job and go straight to his studio to test bugs all night.
He used to say it all the time. Without me, there’d be no him.
Now, I was going to hand that card back.
I’d just reached the door of the conference room when they started playing the scene reveal.
“Oh my God. It’s gorgeous.”
Someone gasped under their breath.
I looked up.
Streams of shooting stars were pouring down through the night sky, falling into a hillside carpeted with wild daisies.
The light motes rolled along the petals, like tiny fireflies.
A little fox lay curled in a treehouse, the whole scene hushed and warm.
On the wooden plaque next to the treehouse, two letters were faintly carved.
SW.
“You don’t get it. That’s Adrian’s private easter egg for Sophie.”
“Heard the credits for this show added Sophie as one of the art leads.”
“Wild, honestly. Three months in and she’s already doing the lead dev interview alongside him.”
Laughter spilled out through the glass door in waves.
Sophie was sitting right next to Adrian.
Around her neck hung a delicate silver fox pendant.
The chain was fine and bright, and the pendant sat perfectly in the hollow of her collarbone.
She was holding a half-finished cup of warm taro milk tea.
When the teasing started, she ducked her face a little behind the cup, but her shoulder leaned toward Adrian.
Her voice came out soft.
“Come on, you guys. I just doodled a fox one day. I didn’t think Adrian would actually put it in.”
It didn’t sound like a denial. It sounded like confirmation.
Adrian was looking up at the big screen, and when he heard her, he glanced sideways at her with a light, easy smile on his lips.
He didn’t explain. He didn’t move over an inch to give her space.
In his world, this was nothing.
Someone with sharp eyes noticed me in the doorway and murmured something.
The laughter in the room slowly died down.
Sophie looked up, her fingers still wrapped around the cup, and came over to push the door open. She called my name, quiet.
“Willow, what are you doing here?”
Adrian followed her out, his brows knotted.
“What are you doing at the studio?”
He shifted so he was standing a little in front of Sophie, as if worried I might throw the tea in her face.
I looked past him, at the screen behind him.
That meadow had no quests. No monsters.
Just moonlight. Wild daisies. Shooting stars.
And an entire fairy tale written for someone else.
I held out the keycard to Adrian.
“You don’t need to give me access anymore.”
Adrian’s brow furrowed harder.
“Willow. What are you trying to pull now?”
I didn’t answer. I turned around and stepped into the elevator.
Just as the doors were closing, I heard Sophie say, softly, “Adrian, maybe you should go smooth things over with her?”
Adrian scoffed. “She’ll get over it and come back.”
I lowered my head and slipped my phone into my bag.
The elevator doors sealed shut.
…
At nine that evening, a courier dropped a large black garment bag at my door.
There was a note attached.
【These suits are a little dirty. Hand-wash them and press them, then hang them up. I need them in a few days.】
Same tone as always.
I unzipped the bag. Two suits inside, thick with the smell of smoke and heavy coffee.
I frowned and dug through the pockets.
A receipt fell out.
Tiffany, custom order. Silver fox pendant necklace. Buyer: Adrian Cole.
Dated the seventeenth of last month.
That was the day I’d asked him if we could take a set of anniversary photos before our eighth year hit.
He said the studio’s cash flow was tight. Don’t waste money on things that don’t matter.
Turned out, the fox pendant was what mattered.
I stuffed the receipt back in the pocket, zipped the bag up, and dragged the whole thing to the entryway.
Then I sent Adrian an iMessage.
【Handle it yourself.】
Once the message went through, I picked up a pen and crossed today off the desk calendar.
One more day until I was gone.
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