Trapped In The Rainy Night

Rowan Pierce despised inconvenience. From something as trivial as picking up my iced latte on his way home. To something as vital as reviewing my resume before a major job interview. He always acted like I was asking for the moon. But when it came to my younger sister. He could spend four grueling hours carrying her shopping bags around the mall. He could stay up for three consecutive nights mapping out her entire career trajectory. Until one night, during a massive torrential downpour. I was stranded under a leaking bus shelter. I called Rowan, begging him to come pick me up. He was only three blocks away. "It is completely out of my way. Stop being so difficult." He rejected me, just like always. Yet he immediately turned his car around and drove ten miles in the opposite direction to drop my sister off at her apartment. Sometime later. Rowan went on a business trip and sent me a text message: [I am heading back soon. What kind of gift do you want?] I did not jump for joy. I did not text back a string of excited emojis. I simply typed out a polite refusal: [No need. It is too much of a hassle for you. Thanks anyway.] 01 Maybe he had never seen me use such a detached, formal tone before. The very next second. My phone rang. It was Rowan. "Didn't you mention you wanted that limited-edition skincare set? You asked me to bring it back for you." His voice was as cold and crisp as ever. It didn't sound like he was offering a gift. It sounded like he was interrogating a suspect. That skincare set was a conversation from months ago. It had been sold out everywhere. The only place you could get it was the flagship store in the city he was currently visiting for work. I had brought it up a few times before he left. But every single time, he would just furrow his brow in deep annoyance. "I am going there to close a deal, Audrey. Not to act as your personal shopper." "But you could just grab it on your way back to the hotel." "It is not on the way. It is an inconvenience." His excuses were always the same. Always an inconvenience. Hearing him suddenly bring it up now meant he had remembered all along. I suppose I should have felt a thrill of happiness. But maybe the fever burning through my veins had numbed my emotions. Or maybe it was because I had already paid a personal shopper double the retail price to ship that exact set to my apartment three days ago. Right now. My heart felt entirely hollow. I let out a soft "hmm" of acknowledgment. My answer echoed the text I had just sent him. "I already bought it myself. Don't worry about it. I won't trouble you." Rowan fell utterly silent for two long seconds. I stayed silent, too. Because of my answer. The atmosphere between us over the cellular line twisted into something bizarrely quiet. "Audrey..." It sounded like Rowan wanted to say something else. But right at that exact moment. A bright, bubbly voice echoed in the background of his call: "Ro! Come here and look at this! Does this necklace look pretty on me?" "..." I didn't launch into a jealous interrogation about who that voice belonged to. I used to. Not anymore. Realizing I had absolutely nothing left to say to him. I tactfully took the hint. "I have things to do. I am going to hang up now." 02 My phone call with Rowan lasted exactly one minute and thirty-eight seconds. Thank god. It didn't cross the three-minute mark. Otherwise, Rowan would have lectured me about wasting his precious time again. It couldn't be helped. Rowan was a certified genius. And a genius's time operated on a completely different currency than the rest of us normal people. Back when we were in high school. While everyone else was goofing off during summer break. He was counting every second, buried in advanced calculus and SAT prep. In the ten minutes between classes. He could finish half a practice exam. In his spare time, he dominated every academic decathlon and robotics competition in the state. Bringing home shiny medals and prestigious trophies for the school. He optimized his time to an absolute extreme. Every single minute was a commodity. Because of this, Rowan harbored a deep-seated resentment for anyone who wasted his time on trivial, mundane things. Especially me. Even though I was his girlfriend. During our dates. If I asked him to grab me a coffee on his way out of the lab. He would calculate that the five minutes spent waiting in line at the cafe could have been used to recalculate his data models. When I asked him to review my resume after college, he just glanced at it and sighed. "Your formatting is a chaotic mess, Audrey. There is nothing salvageable here." "..." Well... That was exactly why I needed his help in the first place. But... Rowan just found it exhausting. I always felt like Rowan was the human embodiment of a perfectly coded algorithm. Every word, every action, flawlessly executed. He was like a high-voltage fence. Any attempt to cross his boundaries was strictly forbidden. So, in our daily lives. We always maintained this bizarre, invisible distance. Only in the dead of night, tangled in the sheets, did I ever see him lose even a fraction of his iron-clad control. But later, I finally figured it out. He wasn't a man who hated trouble. He just hated it when the trouble came from me. 03 After I hung up, my screen lit up with two new texts from Rowan. [That was Michelle just now.] [Are you absolutely sure you don't want anything?] The first text was an unsolicited explanation for the female voice. The second was a rare double-check on a request I had already denied. How incredibly strange. Rowan Pierce never asked twice once he got a 'no'. I had no idea what glitch had infected his system. But staring at that first message. I couldn't help but zone out. If there was one person on this entire planet who could make Rowan sacrifice his invaluable time? It was her. My younger sister, Michelle. She was the golden child of our family. Gorgeous, bratty, wildly vibrant, and totally uninhibited. She could be an absolute menace, yet somehow, she always managed to make people want to protect her. My mother abandoned a decade-long career just to be a stay-at-home mom for Michelle. My father drained his secret savings account just to buy Michelle an outrageously expensive designer gown for her eighteenth birthday. And even Rowan. When Michelle was throwing a tantrum. He would patiently carry her bags through endless department stores for four hours straight. When she was having a meltdown over the brutal job market. He would work late at the office, then pull an all-nighter to completely revamp her resume. He mapped out her five-year career plan and then effortlessly handed her an assistant position at his own tech firm. I used to be so confused. I was jealous. I was furious. I screamed, I cried, I acted like a total lunatic. But none of it made a single dent. Sometimes you just have to swallow the bitter pill and admit the truth. Some people just have to stand there and breathe. And the whole world will love them, effortlessly offering up the very things you would have to bleed to get. 04 I didn't reply to Rowan's texts. Once the IV bag was empty. I walked out of the sterile hospital lobby. The nurse had strictly ordered me to stay in bed for the next two days. She warned me the fever could easily spike again. "You really need someone to keep an eye on you at home. Where is your boyfriend? Or your folks?" Rowan... Rowan was on a business trip. As for my parents... Never mind. I wasn't going to burden them. "I can manage on my own." I called in sick and took two days off from work. I spent those forty-eight hours lying in bed in a hazy, feverish fever dream. My phone buzzed a few times. I didn't bother checking the screen. Two days later, my chest finally felt lighter. The sickness was lifting. I unlocked my phone. Rowan's pinned chat was flooded with unread messages. [Audrey, why aren't you replying?] [What is going on with you? Audrey, pick up the phone.] And the final message read: [My flight lands on Sunday.] I stared at the screen. Then, I unpinned his chat from the top of my inbox. I noticed a missed voice call from my mother and dialed her back. "What's up?" "Audrey, honey, Rowan said he couldn't get a hold of you. He asked me to check in." "I am fine. I have just been swamped with work the past couple of days." "Oh, right, right. Well... when are you going to come home for dinner?" Ever since my sophomore year of college, when I started paying my own rent. I had moved out of that house and practically never looked back. I rarely visited. Not until I started dating Rowan and had to bring him over for the official 'meet the parents' dinner. I don't know if guilt had finally caught up with my parents or what. But after I graduated. They suddenly started reaching out to the invisible older daughter they had spent a lifetime ignoring. "Saturday works. I am free then." "Wonderful! What are you craving? I will cook whatever you want." "Just something light." My stomach was still recovering from the fever. I didn't have much of an appetite. My mom happily agreed. But when Saturday rolled around. I didn't just see my parents. I walked into the living room and saw Rowan and Michelle. 05 The man who specifically told me he was landing on Sunday. Was currently sitting on my parents' velvet sofa, laughing and playing chess with my father. Michelle was curled up on the armchair next to them. Every few minutes, she would playfully snatch a chess piece to cheat for my dad. Eliciting fond, exasperated headshakes from both men. As for my mother. She was hovering around the dining room table, arranging the silverware. Occasionally, she would look up, her eyes melting into absolute adoration as she watched the three of them in the living room. The house smelled like rich, spicy Cajun butter and roasted garlic. The warm, golden glow of the chandelier bathed the entire scene in perfection. It was a picture-perfect, sickeningly sweet family portrait. I stood in the doorway, gripping my tote bag. Frozen. Unable to step forward, unable to back away. It reminded me of the first time I brought Rowan home for dinner. This exact scene had played out before. Back then, we had been stuck in traffic and arrived twenty minutes late. Rowan had walked in carrying an expensive bottle of wine. My mom had rushed over to the foyer, asking: "Did you guys hit rush hour?" "Yeah, traffic was crawling," Rowan replied. Before I could even take my coat off, Michelle came flying down the oak staircase like a tornado. "Ro! You made it! Did you bring my iced matcha?" She fluttered around him like a hyperactive butterfly. Rowan let out a soft, amused sigh and handed her the sweaty plastic cup. "Getting your ridiculous drink is the exact reason we hit traffic in the first place." Rowan wasn't lying. The phone call inviting us to dinner had actually been made by Michelle. "Oh, by the way, when you drive over, stop at that cafe downtown and get me an iced matcha. Extra ice, three pumps of vanilla." She had ordered him around like a servant. Rowan hadn't even hesitated. Though he did frown softly, remembering a detail I didn't even know. "Aren't your cramps supposed to start soon? You shouldn't be drinking ice." Through the phone, Michelle had scoffed like a spoiled brat. "Fine, no ice then. Just make sure you bring it!" "Got it." And so, when we left his apartment. Rowan had driven completely out of his way, hitting three extra red lights. Just to get Michelle her customized drink. Back in the present memory, Michelle stuck her tongue out at him. She grabbed the drink and immediately tugged on his sleeve. "I am stuck on this marketing proposal. You have to come look at it right now." Ever since Michelle got hired at Rowan's firm. She practically acted like his shadow. Rowan laughed, shaking his head. "Did I come here to eat a home-cooked meal, or to do your homework for you?" "Oh, come on! It will literally take you five seconds." She dragged him away toward the living room. My dad sat by the coffee table, sipping his bourbon, smiling proudly at the two of them. My mom turned back to the kitchen to check on the roast. And I had stood there, much like I was doing right now. Like a ghost. A transparent outsider completely walled off from their reality. I had walked through the front door right behind him. But I had just stood in the center of the foyer, utterly invisible. Unable to blend in. So I just stood there, drowning in my own awkward, pathetic isolation. 06 But this time. Someone noticed me almost immediately. "Audrey..." Rowan was reaching for his knight on the chessboard. When he casually glanced toward the entryway with a smile on his face. His eyes locked onto mine. He froze completely. Hearing his voice, everyone in the living room and the kitchen stopped what they were doing and looked over. My mom was the closest to the door. She jumped a little when she saw me. "Audrey? What are you doing here today?" "Didn't you literally invite me over for dinner?" I threw the question right back at her. My mom went completely blank. Watching the utter confusion dawn in her eyes. I knew instantly that she had completely forgotten about the phone call she made to me. I knew it. A bitter, mocking smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Embarrassment flashed across my mom's face. She rushed forward to take my bag, trying to cover her tracks. "Right, right, of course! So glad you made it. Come in, come in." Maybe it was just my imagination. But the second my foot crossed the threshold. That warm, picturesque, sitcom-family atmosphere shattered entirely. I gave my dad a stiff nod. He grunted in acknowledgment, his eyes already drifting back to the chessboard. Rowan stood up and walked toward me. "Audrey..." He looked like he was bursting with things to say. He reached his hand out toward me, leaving it awkwardly suspended in mid-air. Michelle shot me a side-eye, then stood up and stretched dramatically. "Mom, is the food ready? I am literally starving to death." "Yes, yes, it is all done! Go wash your hands." At the dinner table, Michelle's loud chatter masked the thick, suffocating tension in the room. "Mom, you have no idea what I had to survive on during that trip. Bland salads and dry sandwiches everywhere. It was a nightmare." "I have been craving your spicy seafood boil for a whole week." My mom looked at Michelle like she had just survived a war zone. "Then eat up, sweetheart. You look so thin." She piled a mountain of crab legs and shrimp onto Michelle's plate. Then, she glanced at me. Probably trying to overcompensate for the fact that she forgot I was coming. She grabbed a piece of spicy sausage and dropped it onto my plate. "Eat up, Audrey. You too." "..." I stared at the piece of sausage, dripping in bright red chili oil. "Mom, I..." "Oh, wait! Mom, Dad! We bought you guys presents from the trip!" Michelle totally cut me off. She practically leaped out of her chair. She bolted over to her designer suitcase that was still sitting in the corner of the dining room. A minute later. She was pulling out sleek, expensive shopping bags. "This one is for Dad! And this one is for you, Mom!" "Oh, honey, you shouldn't have! You were there for work, you didn't need to spend your money on us." My parents were chiding her, but their faces were absolutely glowing with pure joy. Michelle tilted her chin up, looking exceptionally smug. "I didn't pick them out alone. Rowan and I spent hours looking for the perfect ones, didn't we?" She looked over at Rowan. "...Yeah." Rowan gave a stiff nod. My parents were practically glowing. They kept gushing about how thoughtful 'their Rowan' was. Not a single person at that table noticed that my plate was completely empty. Even though I had spent a lifetime getting used to this. Swallowing the air at that dinner table made my chest ache so badly, I thought my fever had come back. Otherwise, why would my throat feel so impossibly tight? 07 An hour later. The plates were cleared. Since Rowan and Michelle had just gotten off a plane and were exhausted. My mom didn't try to force us to stay for dessert. She ushered Rowan and me out the door. Rowan and I walked side-by-side into the dim, echoing parking garage beneath my parents' building. Right as I reached for the passenger door handle, Rowan grabbed my wrist. "Audrey, our flight got changed at the last minute. That is why we got back early. I was going to text you the second I dropped Michelle off." He had brought Michelle straight to her parents' place from the airport. He just hadn't expected my mother to aggressively insist he stay for dinner. And he certainly hadn't expected me to walk through that door today. Rowan finally managed to spit out the explanation he had been holding in all night. During the entire dinner. We hadn't exchanged a single word or even made eye contact. Well, I hadn't. Rowan had kept stealing nervous glances at me the entire time. Now, as he stood under the harsh fluorescent lights of the garage. His face was deadly serious. His dark eyes were locked intensely onto mine. The crazy part was: I didn't feel a single thing. If this had happened a month ago. My chest would have been filled with heavy, suffocating cotton. I would have given him the silent treatment for three days straight out of pure resentment. "Okay. Got it." I nodded calmly and slid into the passenger seat. Rowan froze. He clearly had not prepared himself for such a cold, indifferent reaction. His mouth opened, then closed again. It was obvious he had an entire speech locked and loaded. But normally, I was the one who had to pry the words out of his mouth. Now that I refused to engage. He had no idea how to keep the conversation alive. When we finally got back to his luxury apartment. Rowan followed me quietly through the front door. He had been on a plane for six hours. Dark circles were already forming under his eyes. "I am going to take a shower first." He popped the latches on his suitcase, letting it fall open on the hardwood floor. Lying right on top of his neatly folded dress shirts was a lace bra. "..." Rowan went completely rigid. His eyes snapped up to look at me in pure panic. Right on cue. His phone buzzed. It was Michelle. "Ro! I think I left some of my lingerie in your suitcase because mine wouldn't close..." Before she could finish her sentence. Rowan slammed his thumb onto the end call button. He looked at me, his voice tight. "Her suitcase was over the weight limit, so she had to..." It was always like this. I couldn't even count how many times these 'innocent accidents' or 'unavoidable situations' had happened. All I knew was. Standing there looking at that lace bra. I suddenly lost every single ounce of desire to hear his excuses or pick a fight. "Just keep the water pressure down. I am going to bed." I pulled my gaze away from his panicked face. I turned on my heel and walked up the stairs. Behind me, I could feel the weight of Rowan's stare burning into my back for a very, very long time. 08 The next morning, I had to go to work. My rideshare was exactly two minutes away. I was rushing down the stairs when Rowan stepped into the hallway, physically blocking my path. "I made breakfast. Eat before you leave." "I can't. I am going to be late." "I will drive you." Rowan stated firmly. His tech firm and my office building were only three blocks apart. But there was a notoriously brutal traffic light in between that lasted a full two minutes. Rowan had always considered those two minutes a criminal waste of his time. So, in the two years we had lived together, he had never once offered to drop me off or pick me up. Hearing him suddenly volunteer. I hesitated for a split second. But I easily sidestepped his outstretched arm. "No, it is fine. I don't want to inconvenience you. My Uber is literally pulling up outside." Later that afternoon, right before five o'clock. Rowan sent me another text. [I am coming to pick you up.] I typed back immediately: [Working late tonight.] The little typing bubble on his end popped up and danced for a long time. But he never actually sent a reply. For the next few days, it was the exact same routine. It was so incredibly bizarre. Normally, after a quick breakfast in complete silence. We would go our separate ways at the front door. Or Rowan would leave first, already deep in a conference call. But now, Rowan was literally standing by the door, waiting to leave together. And to avoid being trapped in the suffocating confines of his car. I had started waking up thirty minutes earlier just to sneak out. But I knew this cat-and-mouse game wasn't sustainable. Until my company sent me out to do a site inspection at a new commercial mall with my boss. And just my luck. I bumped right into Rowan.