I let my head thud softly against the door. Somewhere between the elevator and tonight, I lost control of the script. The worst part is I can’t even pinpoint when it happened. Maybe when he smiled at my mom like he’d known her forever. Maybe when he said my name. Maybe from the very start.
“You’re fine,” I tell myself, but my voice trembles. “It’s fine. He’s probably not even thinking about it.”
Especially not that man. Kyle is everything I swore off: too charming, too sure, too easy to get lost in.He has the kind of smile that makes promises without saying a word, and I’ve spent my entire adult life learning not to believe in promises.
I push up from the floor, legs unsteady, palms flat against the door like it can anchor me. My apartment looks the same as it did before, but I don’t feel safe in it anymore. I feel exposed. His touch still seems imprinted on my skin, and the walls know it.
The lights are dim, the blinds half-drawn, strips of streetlight cutting across the floor in uneven gold. Each shadow feels like a reminder as I set the foil-wrapped pie on the counter. I peel back the edge and stare at it like it holds answers. Cinnamon and butter fill the air—my mother’s love language made edible. It should comfort me, but the sweetness turns my stomach.
I step back, rubbing my thumb along the counter’s edge until it hurts. Everything can change shape so fast. An hour ago, this whole place smelled like safety. Now it smells like heartbreak waiting to happen.
I grab my phone from the counter, desperate for a distraction. The group chat is still open, flashing with unread messages.
Tiff
Did the fake date survive dinner with Mom?
Maria
Tell me he was charming. Give us details, woman.
A half laugh escapes me.Barelywould be the truth,but my thumbs hover without typing. What would I even say? That the fake boyfriend she thought was harmless kissed me like he meant it, and I let him? Instead, I type:
Still alive. Dinner went well.
I add a heart emoji to soften the lie and hit send.
Maria
Ugh. That’s it? No lingering eye contact or flirty banter? No accidental hand brushes that change everything?
Tiff
Marie, this isn’t one of your Netflix originals.
Maria
You say that as if these things don’t happen in real life.
Maria
Well, not to you. But it could happen.
They’re steady in a way everything else isn’t, even when they don’t mean to be. And I’m sitting here, lying to them.
It was fine. Totally normal. Nothing to report.
The lie sends a dull ache through my chest as I head for the kitchen. The hum of the refrigerator fills the silence. My reflection stares back faintly from the window above the sink. I should feel calm here,surrounded by the life I built, but all I feel is off balance.
My phone buzzes.
Maria
Okay, but you can’t just say “dinner went well” and disappear.
Tiff
It’s avoidance. Which means something happened.
