At four-thirty in the afternoon, the gaming expo was winding down, marking the end of Elise's business trip. She looked around the venue, searching left and right, yet she couldn't spot Braden anywhere.
She called him, but he didn't pick up, and he didn't reply to her messages. Every sign pointed to something unsettling, as if something was about to happen between them.
She was anxious, yet she didn't know what to do.
At that moment, Zayne returned from the booth and noticed Elise's unusual expression. He couldn't help but ask.
"Hey, hey, something's off with you. What's going on?" Zayne looked puzzled. Wasn't she just chatting happily with Jakob?
Elise stammered, clutching her phone tightly, trying to force a smile. "I… uh, Zayne, did you happen to see Braden at the H Technology booth?"
"Oh, him…" Zayne chuckled as if remembering something. "Yeah, we were just talking about you and Jakob. He said you two make a great match."
Elise felt a jolt like a thunderbolt striking her. She gripped her phone even tighter. Despite the lively, noisy surroundings, it all faded away, leaving her world in total darkness.
Did he really think that… that she and Jakob were a perfect match?
"Packing starts at five. I'll go find Madisyn first. After we wrap up, let's all grab dinner together. My treat," Zayne said before disappearing from her view, heading off to find Madisyn.
Elise stood there, still processing Baden's view of her. So, ignoring her calls and messages… was his way of expressing himself.
She didn't realize her fingers gripping the phone had turned white. She felt an overwhelming bitterness but had nowhere to release it.
Half an hour later, Zayne returned with Madisyn and Jakob. Elise pretended nothing was wrong and joined in organizing the equipment they'd brought, along with posters, tables, game brochures, and event fans.
After thinking for a long time, Elise spoke up with difficulty, "Zayne, I'm not feeling well. Can I skip dinner after work?"
She wanted to go home, to leave all those bitter feelings behind, to have a space to breathe, a place where she could let go of her sadness instead of letting it eat away at her, leaving her emotionally battered.
Zayne quickly agreed. "Sure, but what's wrong? Should Madisyn go with you to see a doctor?"
Madisyn looked her over. "Yeah, if you're really not feeling well, I can go with you to the doctor."
"It's alright, I'm fine, thank you." Elise offered a gentle smile, but politely declined their kindness.
Emotional pain couldn't be cured with medicine. The only remedy she had was herself.
"Are you sure you can still drive?" Jakobg asked out of genuine concern.
Elise responded calmly, "Yes, I can."
Zayne glanced at his watch and thought for a moment. "Why don't you head home now? It's only a few minutes until we're off anyway. Taking care of yourself is more important. Just let us know when you get home safely."
"Thank you, Zayne." Elise nodded. "Then I'll head out now. Thank you all."
In the parking lot, as Elise took out her keys and made her way to her car, she noticed Braden was there too, though a significant distance away.
But he didn't seem to notice her.
She had considered going over to say hi, maybe even ask why he'd looked at her and Jakobg that way. But all those thoughts vanished the moment she saw Mylee by his side.
They were walking side by side, and while there wasn't anything especially affectionate between them, he didn't seem too busy to answer a call or reply to a message.
Maybe he'd simply made a choice, a decision to limit their interactions—like that day when he stayed in his room and left her alone in the living room. It was probably his clearest hint yet.
She was starting to understand. He wasn't all that eager to see her. Thinking back, she'd always been the one to initiate plans. He'd join her, but it always felt like he was just going along with it.
He wasn't unkind to her, but he was never exactly proactive, either.
She turned away, deciding to leave as quickly as possible. Going home to lie in bed and think about nothing was better than watching others pair up around her.
However, when Elise got home, her parents were out, and the house felt overwhelmingly lonely, as though she'd stepped into layers of suffocating solitude closing in on her.
She couldn't help but feel that today, everyone seemed to have drifted away from her.
Even so, she held a small comfort in her heart—knowing that one person would never leave her, no matter what.
------
Ruth rested her chin on her left hand while her right index finger counted the crushed, empty beer cans scattered across the table, not a drop left in them.
The culprit herself cracked open another can, gulping down more, visibly drunk, with a rosy blush spreading across her cheeks.
Ruth sighed, "Drinking like this without saying a word... if my brother finds out, he'll definitely scold me."
"No, he's too busy to care about me right now. Don't worry..." Elise slurred, slumped over the table with a wry smile.
"Too busy to care about you? That's impossible." Ruth caught a whiff of gossip. "Did you guys have another fight? You two have been at it way too often lately."
"It's not fighting, it's just no contact," Elise grumbled. "And it's him not wanting to reach out, not me..."
"No way, there's no reason he wouldn't contact you..." Ruth toyed with her hair, and after thinking it over, she joked mischievously, "Haha, or maybe he's got a girlfriend and hasn't told us? Ugh, hate it when people do things on the sly. Next time I see him, he's definitely getting an earful."
As soon as Ruth finished her sentence, she burst into laughter, not realizing how her words had pierced the person beside her.
Elise's eyes grew misty, her vision blurring as a wave of sorrow crashed over her, twisting her heart painfully. She couldn't help but cry, feeling utterly humiliated.
She sobbed, her shoulders shaking with each breath.
"Wait, why are you crying?" Even as oblivious as she was, Ruth finally caught on. "Do you… like him?"
"I... I'm just happy for him..." Elise's eyes filled with tears, but she stubbornly refused to admit it, burying her face in her arms on the table.
"Ugh, so annoying! He treats me like a kid, and you're treating me like I'm clueless too." Ruth huffed. "I'm twenty-five! I'm not a kid!"
Wait, why was she even trying to prove she wasn't clueless to Elise?
But had Braden actually gotten a girlfriend? How come she hadn't heard anything about it?
Was this the trend now, everyone keeping things under wraps? She felt like she was behind the times.
The more Ruth thought about it, the stranger these two seemed. Since she couldn't get anything out of Elise, calling Braden directly seemed more practical.
She stepped onto the balcony, making sure Elise wasn't sneaking after her, then pulled out her phone and dialed his number.
The moment Braden answered, she launched into her accusations before he could even speak.
Ruth tilted her head up, staring at the starless night sky. "Hey, where are you? Did something happen between you and Elise?"
"None of your business." He snapped at her, his mind still occupied by what Zayne had said that afternoon.
He had thought that taking a break would mean Zayne would stop talking about Jakob, but no—Zayne had only gotten more animated, going on and on about how well Jakob and Elise worked together, how close they seemed, as if determined to drive him crazy.
"Haha, touchy, aren't we?" Ruth wasn't offended. In fact, she chuckled. "You're acting like some poor guy who just got rejected."
"If you don't have a point, I'm hanging up." He was in no mood to be teased and was itching to end the call.
"Of course, I'm calling to tell you Elise's feeling down. Aren't you coming over to cheer her up?" Ruth added fuel to the fire with deliberate ease. "Haven't you heard that when a woman's at her lowest, any guy can easily slip into her heart? But hey, if you're not interested, don't worry about it. I'll pretend I never called, and maybe I'll check my friend circle to see if there's a nice guy out there..."
On the other end, Braden went silent, suddenly not as eager to hang up.
"Oh, looks like I actually do! Guess you're officially out of the running. Bye-bye!" Ruth quickly hung up, already calculating how much that call had been worth.
They both thought they were so mature, but neither of them was as straightforward as she was. A pair of oddballs, no wonder their names even sounded similar.
She'd suspected there was more between those two for a while now; she just hadn't had enough proof to confirm it.
Braden showed up much faster than Ruth expected. When she went to answer the door, his eyes blazed with such intensity, it looked like he wanted to tear her to pieces.
"You're quite the talker, aren't you?" Braden said with a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm just looking out for you, you know. Can't you see my good intentions?" Ruth replied, walking back into the room with a helpless expression. "Nowadays, no one appreciates a good deed."
As Braden entered the living room, he immediately spotted that familiar, bittersweet sight that tugged painfully at his heart.
But what was with all the beer cans scattered on the table? He instinctively turned to Ruth, his tone sharp.
"You let her drink this much?"
"Why don't you look at yourself? Who told you not to answer her calls or respond to her messages?"
Braden fell silent. He had, admittedly, ignored Elise's calls—part of him just couldn't bring himself to face her.
He loved her so much it made him anxious, wavering constantly. He felt he shouldn't be like this, but he couldn't snap himself out of it. So, he distanced himself, hoping he wouldn't self-destruct.
Baden's face remained impassive. "Even if I ignored her calls and messages, that doesn't excuse you for letting her get this drunk."
"I've never met someone as stubborn as you." Ruth rolled her eyes, not bothering to argue further. "I'm going to shower. Hopefully, by the time I'm back, both of you are gone. I don't make a habit of playing third wheel."
Braden merely glared in response.
Once Ruth finally left the living room, he approached Elise, gazing at her tear-streaked face.
Why had she been crying…?
