An hour before I got off work, Tristan called.
"Is something going on with you today?"
"No. Why?"
"Then how come you haven't texted or called me?"
I let out a dry laugh.
The truth was, I hadn't thought about him once all day.
The old me couldn't have stood it for a single moment if he stayed out overnight at another woman's place. I'd have called him crying, refused to let it go.
"Did you need something?" I shot back.
Tristan's voice turned awkward.
"Don't take the subway. I'll come pick you up after work."
Ever since he bought the car, he'd never once given me a ride, claiming I needed to keep a low profile at work. He always seemed to have time to drop Cecily off, though, "since it was on the way."
"Oh. Sure."
When I opened the car door and slid into the passenger seat,
Tristan was staring at his phone, typing, a sweet smile on his face, not even lifting his head.
My father called, and I answered right there.
He asked whether I'd finished arranging my resignation, and when I'd be coming back.
"It's all set. A week from now works."
After I hung up, Tristan finally set down his phone and looked up.
"A week from now works for what?"
"Nothing."
I brushed aside a piece of pink lace lingerie on the passenger seat, picked up a book, and started flipping through it.
Tristan scrambled to clean everything up,
stumbling over his words as he explained,
"You know how it is. Cecily's a little scatterbrained."
I nodded vaguely and said nothing.
Then he fumbled with the stereo and put on music, English songs, the kind Cecily liked.
He skipped one track, still an English song. Skipped again, same thing.
"Don't bother. Anything's fine," I said, impatient.
Tristan's hand froze, the smile locked on his face.
"Wallis, you seem different. You always used to care most about this kind of thing."
I was about to reply when his phone rang.
He took the call, then hesitated before telling me to get out.
"Cecily's cramping, it's her time of the month. I have to go buy her some medicine. You've always felt for her, right?"
I drew in a deep breath and stared straight at him.
"Tristan, do you still remember whose boyfriend you are?"
He flushed with shame and turned it into anger.
"What does that have to do with whose boyfriend I am! Wallis, when did you get so vicious?"
"I said, get out! Don't keep Cecily waiting!"
Of course. When you talk to someone who doesn't love you, every word is a waste of breath.
I got out without a word, and the car peeled off at once.
It was already past ten at night when Tristan got home.
He handed me a little cake with a grin.
"Don't be mad, baby."
Sea-salt cheese cake with crushed peanuts.
Cecily's favorite flavor.
I glanced at him.
"I'm allergic to peanuts."
The kind of allergy that can kill you if it's bad enough.
His expression changed dramatically.
"I'm sorry, I forgot…"
This was the man who used to pick every last sprig of cilantro out of my food, and now he'd forgotten I was allergic.
As if to make up for it, he pulled out a gift box,
said it was a present he and Cecily had gotten together to make up for the missed occasion.
I looked down. An LV silk scarf lay quietly inside,
as if mocking the ten years of real feeling I'd wasted.
I gave a sarcastic little smile, pulled up the video I'd liked that morning, and showed it to him.
His face went red, then green.
"Cecily's in grad school, she deserves a nice bag. Do you really have to compete with her?"
"Take the scarf or leave it, I don't care!"
He spun away in a huff to shower, slamming the bathroom door hard enough to rattle it.
His phone buzzed where he'd left it on the couch. I glanced down.
【Cutest Cecily in the Universe: Is it okay to give Wallis the freebie? I really do love that bag, though.】
【Tristan: It's fine. The freebie cost money too. It's more than good enough for her.】
