When I Stopped Waiting

There were only two seats left at the company dinner. One was in the corner, and the other was beside my secret boyfriend of three years, Julian Locke. I had barely taken a step forward when Julian called out to my best friend, Capri Leigh. "Capri, sit here." My coworkers immediately squealed with excitement. The group chat went wild too. "They look so good together. Just seeing them sitting next to each other is a treat!" "Has Mr. Locke ever asked someone to sit with him before?" "I bet he's got a thing for Capri. I don't care. I'm shipping them anyway!" Throughout the dinner, Julian avoided even looking at me to keep people from getting suspicious. Even when a server burned my hand while bringing out a dish, he was still taking Capri's drinks for her. At that moment, one thought suddenly hit me. I didn't want to stay in this secret relationship anymore. Chapter 1 Suzanne's POV When I went to the bathroom to treat the burn on my hand, I saw a message my best friend, Capri Leigh, had sent half an hour earlier. [Suzie, don't overthink what they're saying in the group chat. They just love to tease. Don't take it seriously.] I dried my hands and replied. [I know.] Julian Locke, my boyfriend, had also messaged me a minute earlier. [I was only doing that to avoid suspicion. Don't read too much into it.] I stared at the message, and a strange heaviness settled in my chest. In my three years at the company, I had lost count of how many times it had happened. At team events, dinners, or meetings, there was always a department manager, Capri, or some other employee next to Julian. It was never me. Even when I had a chance to stand beside him, he would switch places with someone else to avoid suspicion. He'd even ignore me whenever I looked at him and brush off everything I said. My coworkers noticed how distant he was with me, and they treated me like an outsider for it. I put my phone away without replying to Julian. When I returned, everyone was still eating and chatting like nothing had happened. The blister on my hand still throbbed, reminding me of the decision I had made to leave Julian. When dinner ended, my coworkers nudged Capri toward Julian. "Mr. Locke, there's a hurricane warning tonight, and all the rideshare apps are packed. It's not safe for Capri to go home alone. Could you give her a ride?" Julian didn't refuse. "Sure. I'm headed toward the harbor district. Is anyone else going that way?" He said it casually, but his eyes stayed fixed on me. My throat tightened. Three years ago, a strange man tailed me after work. I had been afraid of walking home alone at night ever since. After Julian found out, he picked me up from work every day. I started to speak. "I'm going—" "I'll drive the rest." Another coworker cut me off. He stepped in front of me before I could finish. "Mr. Locke, you should take Capri home." Julian stared at me briefly before looking away. He turned and nodded. "Thanks." Then he drove off. When my coworker heard my address, he looked at me awkwardly. "Suzanne, why didn't you say you were headed toward the harbor district too? "It's already 1:00 am. Taking you home and then going back to my place would take forever. Why don't you get a cab? There aren't many cars out, but one will show up if you wait." I silently opened the rideshare app. The estimated wait was 53 minutes. Messages started coming into the group chat from coworkers saying they had made it home safely. I didn't know who had brought it up first, but someone said, "Don't you guys think she's always trying to get close to Mr. Locke? Doesn't she realize how much he dislikes her?" "Exactly! If Mr. Locke hadn't called Capri over, she would've sat next to him." "Also, when Mr. Locke asked if anyone else was headed the same way, wasn't it obvious he wanted some time alone with Capri? "He was only asking to be polite. I guess someone took it too seriously." Capri gave a vague reply. "Don't say that. Mr. Locke's just looking out for me because I'm new." That only made my coworkers go even further. "When another new employee dropped all her files after getting chewed out by her team leader, Mr. Locke walked right past her without helping." "Besides, the fact that Mr. Locke didn't deny it says everything. You know what that means!" Reading those messages, I felt nothing but numbness. Capri had joined the company because she had heard I was being picked on. She said she wanted to be there for me. Now she was everyone's favorite. All I got from her was a few halfhearted words telling me not to overthink it. She insisted that the rest didn't mean any harm. When my coworkers started spreading rumors that Capri and Julian were dating, Julian only told me to focus on improving myself. He said I should stop wasting my time on things that didn't matter. It was just something trivial to him. Maybe only someone who didn't care about me would see my feelings as unimportant. The night wind felt cold against my face. I left the group chat and submitted my resignation. If I'd already decided to leave Julian, there was no reason to keep hurting myself. Chapter 2 Suzanne's POV It wasn't until 2:00 am that a driver finally accepted my ride. When I got home, Julian stood up from the couch. "Why didn't you say you were headed my way? I could've driven you home." He asked as if it were no big deal. I wanted to say, "Couldn't you tell they deliberately interrupted me to push you and Capri together? Couldn't you have offered to take me home yourself?" But I swallowed the words instead of saying them. "I forgot." As I walked closer, I noticed he was wearing matching pajamas. He had always avoided matching clothes with me, even when we were at home. He didn't want anyone to suspect we were together. I felt a little touched. "Didn't you say you didn't want matching things?" Julian was about to say something, but before he could answer, Capri walked out of the bathroom wearing the matching set. "I asked him to put it on." She grinned. "The matching sets from this shop are cheaper, but I didn't know what size the men's pajamas were. So I asked Julian to try them on for me." My expression stiffened, and the little spark of happiness I had felt vanished. I had thought he'd seen my resignation and wanted to make things right by finally going public with our relationship. Instead, it was all because of Capri. She looked Julian up and down. "I think the men's size is a little too big for me. Forget it. I won't buy them. "I don't have a boyfriend anyway, so there would be no one to wear them with." Hearing the disappointment in her voice, Julian casually replied, "Then take this set with you." Capri's eyes lit up. "Really?" Julian barely reacted, but a faint smile appeared on his lips. "Yeah. Suzanne's never worn it anyway. It's just taking up space in her closet." I lowered my head, tightening my fists before slowly relaxing them. That's true. It was taking up space. What's the point of wearing matching clothes alone? That was why I had left them sitting in my closet, untouched. I had once believed I would live to see the day Julian made our relationship public and wore them with me. Instead, I watched him give them to someone else. "Take them. I'm never going to wear them anyway," I said. Capri happily spun around. "Suzanne, you're the best!" She paused, then added, "By the way, I'm scared to stay alone during the hurricane. Can I stay here with you two? I won't stay long." I slipped into my house slippers and walked away. "Do whatever you want." I was leaving soon anyway. It didn't matter how long she stayed. After I got into bed, Julian suddenly spoke. "Why are you so quiet tonight? You used to get pretty upset whenever I gave away those useless matching things." I froze in the darkness. When Julian and I first got together, I happily bought all kinds of matching things like mugs, house slippers, umbrellas, and pens. I replaced almost everything around me with matching versions. The next day, however, Julian gave away his half as a random prize. Some coworkers noticed that the things Julian gave away matched the ones I had, and they mocked me behind my back for being Julian's obsessed admirer. I became the company's laughingstock. What hurt was that he could've simply told me he didn't like matching things. Instead, he chose the most hurtful way to show it. After that, he even avoided getting into the same elevator as me so no one would suspect we were dating. I was angry and refused to speak to him after that. But then Julian took me to his wine cellar and pointed to the bottles covering the walls. He told me every single one of them was priceless. They had all been made the year I was born, and he had planned to open them only on our wedding day. I had always believed Julian's love was hidden in the things he didn't say. I thought he just wasn't good at expressing himself. It wasn't until I saw him taking Capri's drinks, serving her food, and trying on matching pajamas with her that I finally understood. Some things didn't need to be said. You could see the love from their actions. And when someone had to force it to look like love, it was easy to see the act for what it was. I kept my voice even. "Didn't you say those matching things were useless? If they're pointless, then it doesn't matter if they're given away." Julian fell silent. Chapter 3 Suzanne's POV The next day, everyone gathered around Capri in the break room, gossiping away. "Capri, that selfie you posted earlier wasn't taken at your place. Don't tell me it's exactly what I'm thinking!" "You actually spent the night at Mr. Locke's?" "Those pajamas look like they came from a matching set. Wow, things are moving fast!" "I knew Mr. Locke had a thing for you! He personally brought you in on your first day. He gave off the impression that you're his woman and he's got your back." "And after you nearly passed out from low blood sugar a few days ago, the company started providing afternoon snacks the very next day." My hand froze on the doorknob. That day, I had stayed late with Capri to fix some data and hadn't had time to eat. I passed out in the break room that afternoon. Julian saw me, but he walked right past me to help Capri, who was right behind me. The concern in his eyes had looked real. When he saw how upset I was afterward, this was how he explained it. "You have me, but Capri doesn't have a boyfriend. If she gets hurt in the office, that's my responsibility. "I'm only looking out for her because she's your friend. "What? Are you jealous of your own best friend?" I didn't stay to hear any more of their teasing and turned to walk away. Martin from HR came rushing in. "Guys, I've got two huge pieces of news. Mr. Locke might be getting married! "I think I just heard him talking about ordering an engagement ring." Everyone around Capri got even louder. "Wow, Capri. Looks like wedding bells are coming!" Martin cleared his throat. "And the second piece of news is that Mr. Locke just approved a list of promotions. I heard your team is on it." Our coworkers crowded around Capri, cheering. "Who else could it be?" "I'll be the first to call you Mrs. Locke, Capri!" Capri tried to be modest. "That's not a given. Suzanne's been here longer than me." I didn't stay to hear them guess who the promotion is for. Laura from HR received my resignation and called me into her office. "Suzanne, your work, performance, and numbers are all good. Why are you suddenly leaving?" I lowered my head. "Laura, was the promotion Mr. Locke just approved for me?" She fell silent. I said, "I've been here for three years. Everyone who started around the same time has at least become a team leader. I'm the only one who's still in the same position." Every year, HR would put my name forward to Julian. And every time, he would find some little excuse to reject my promotion. Laura frowned. "Suzanne, did you do something to upset Mr. Locke? Maybe you should apologize to him." I smiled bitterly. I hadn't done anything to offend him. I had just been secretly dating him. Laura stopped trying to talk me out of it. "Employees at your level don't need management approval to resign. If you've made up your mind, I'll handle the paperwork." After my resignation was approved, Julian called a staff meeting. His expression was serious. "The report Team Two submitted two days ago had data errors that the client caught right away." He looked around the room. "Suzanne, that's your team, right?" If you can't handle being acting team leader, give the position to someone else. "You'll lose a month's pay, and Capri will take over your role." Several coworkers lit up at the news and quietly congratulated her. I could only stare at the data on the screen. Capri and I had worked late on that report just a few days ago. Julian knew I wasn't responsible for that project. I dug my nails into my palms, and my heart sank. She made the mistake, I took the blame, and he demoted me to promote her. I smiled bitterly. What a joke. Julian noticed my expression and frowned slightly. After the meeting, he called me into his office. "Capri did make a mistake with the data, but when a team member makes a mistake, it means the team leader failed to manage the team. "Do you have a problem with the demotion and pay cut?" I kept my expression blank and answered in a professional tone. "No. I'm sure you have your reasons, Mr. Locke." Julian frowned even more but said nothing. He simply waved me away. When I left the office, Capri cautiously walked over to me with a cup of almond latte. "Suzanne, want some almond latte?" I pushed her hand away. "No thanks."