"Didn't I tell you not to call me?"
"If it's important, leave a message."
So I finally learned. I learned not to call him anymore, learned to eat, sleep, and go to the hospital on my own.
Even our wedding photos got missed because he didn't reply in time, and in the end they had to be AI-composited.
A car horn pulled me back to myself. I looked up and saw a familiar license plate not far off.
It was Miles.
And… Julia, riding in the passenger seat.
"Gabby, I knew you'd be here! Miles kept insisting you weren't, and if I hadn't made him come, you'd be soaked by now…"
Julia rolled down the window, waving at me excitedly, and gave Miles a playful punch on the arm.
"Aren't you going to get my cousin? You want a beating, don't you?"
In the driver's seat, Miles let out a soft laugh and ruffled Julia's hair with a doting hand. But when he turned to look at me, he couldn't help frowning.
"The rain's too heavy. Come over yourself."
"What is wrong with you? What if my cousin gets soaked?!"
"She's dressed warmly enough. She'll be fine."
I stood quietly at the entrance, watching the two of them laugh and tease each other inside the car.
A young woman sheltering from the rain beside me suddenly spoke, a trace of envy in her voice.
"Your sister really cares about you, sending her boyfriend out in the rain to pick you up."
My chest clenched hard, and the shame of it nearly made me want to bolt.
But my feet stayed rooted where they were.
"She is good to me. But the man in the driver's seat is my husband. We got married not long ago."
Ignoring the woman's stunned face beside me, I turned and stepped out into the rain.
The whole way there, Julia chattered on about all the amusing things she'd run into on her travels.
As a travel blogger with a modest following online, Julia always had a knack for digging up off-the-beaten-path destinations.
At first she loved dragging me along, but I couldn't get away from work, and after I turned her down a few times, she stopped pushing.
Then, a week later, I saw Miles show up in her social media posts.
That was the first time Miles and I ever fought.
"Can you please not have such a filthy mind? Julia is your cousin. You think there could actually be something between me and her?"
"Gabriella, stop making a scene. This wears me out…"
The impatience on his face cut deep, and it made every question I'd asked feel ridiculous.
I didn't understand it. Miles and I had dated for years and never once traveled anywhere together.
Every time, I'd get excited, take time off in advance, plan it all out, only for one of his last-minute projects to cancel everything.
I complained about it, but I understood his work too.
Yet somehow, only Julia was the exception…
"Gabby, why aren't you saying anything?" Julia's coy, pouting voice reached me, and only then did I notice the car had stopped in front of a luxury boutique.
"Gabriella, what are you sulking about now? Julia's talking to you. Can't you hear her?" I hadn't even caught up with what was happening before Miles's displeased scolding came crashing down on me.
"Miles, don't be like that. Gabby probably just spaced out and didn't hear."
"Gabby, Miles said my clothes got wet, so he's taking me in to buy something. Let's go together?"
Julia dabbed at a few water spots on her collar, a hint of shyness in her tone.
"Never mind her. She's got that spoiled-princess temper, thinks the whole world has to cater to her." Miles shot me a look of disgust.
"If it weren't for coming to get her, your clothes wouldn't have gotten wet. Go change first, before you catch a cold." Miles took a tissue and carefully wiped the mist of rain from Julia's hair, his eyes full of concern.
