Beyond His Orbit
At our college reunion, I returned from running an errand for my boyfriend and found my best friend sitting in my place.
My wineglass and plate had been cleared away and replaced with a fresh set.
There was no trace that I had ever been there.
When I came back, Serena Blake started to rise, but Adrian Bennett pressed her back into the chair.
"She doesn't understand our casework anyway. She'd only sit here and smile along."
No one else dared respond.
Everyone knew my family had collapsed financially while I was in college, forcing me to leave school for a semester.
Back then, Adrian and Serena were the law school's celebrated dream team, winning every difficult mock case they touched.
After graduation, they rose together at an elite corporate firm, while I was dismissed as the little assistant who only got hired because I was Adrian's girlfriend.
I stood there stupidly, unsure what to do.
Adrian took the cigarettes I had bought for him and casually gave me another order.
"Serena wants a milkshake. Go get her one."
He did not even look at me before turning back to their conversation.
As they talked and laughed without me, something inside me finally went quiet.
I no longer wanted to chase the person I had spent years trying to catch.