Chapter 3
"Whenever we gave each other the silent treatment, you'd always reach out and make up by the next day. But this time, you went five whole days without contacting me," Eugene said.
"Uh..." I chewed and swallowed my food, then said, "I figured you might want some time alone."
We just sat there in silence for a moment.
After a while, Eugene said carefully, "That day, Emily was working late and got held up with a light bulb issue, so she didn't have time to eat. That's why I made her dinner. I'll teach her how to cook as soon as I can, so I won't have to go over there so often."
"Oh, okay," I replied.
I was worried he'd get mad again and say I didn't understand him, so I just gave a half-hearted response and quietly ate my food.
"Why don't you come with me to this month's hangout?" Eugene asked.
I was caught off guard and looked up, seeing the hope in his eyes.
Eugene had brought me along to his friends' parties before, but we both knew he was talking about that exclusive monthly meetup with his close crew.
It wasn't the activities that made it special, but who was allowed in. Only their inner circle was invited, no partners, no family, just them.
I'd asked him to take me before, but he always brushed me off. When he realized I wasn't buying it, he'd lose his temper.
He said, "Gracie, can you stop being so clingy? You're really suffocating me.
"I've told you, this is our monthly meetup, just us. Why can't you respect my space for once?"
I lost it and slammed the table, shouting at him, "Didn't you take Emily with you?"
Eugene replied coldly, "Emily grew up with me and knows everyone. She's not an outsider.
"Besides, she doesn't really have friends in this city, so I just didn't want her to feel alone.
"Can you stop being so paranoid? You're acting like a lunatic!"
I never thought he'd actually ask me to come along.
But with all the handover work before I leave the country, I figured I'd better turn him down.
Plus, I was never that close with his friends anyway, and with how things were now, there was really no reason to get more involved with them.
"I've got a lot on my plate at work lately, so I'll pass," I said.
Eugene slammed his knife and fork down on the table.
There was a tiredness on his face he couldn't quite put into words.
He said, "Gracie, I know you've been upset about Emily, so I've been going easy on you these past few days. But I get worn out too. I've already swallowed my pride for you. What more do you want from me?
"You're twenty-eight. Can you stop acting like a little girl throwing a tantrum?"
"That's not it," I replied evenly. "Things have just been crazy at work lately."
"Whatever," Eugene said, his tone icy.
After that, we didn't say another word. We just finished our meal in silence.
Eugene still ended up taking Emily to the meetup after all.
That day, a project at work ran into trouble. Even though I was about to quit, I'd been part of it, so I stayed late with my coworkers to help out.
During a break, I checked my phone and saw a new notification pop up on Instagram.
I tapped it. Turns out, Emily had tagged me in her post.
The photo showed Emily and Eugene, all smiles, sharing a Pocky stick between them.
Her caption said: [Everyone was so mischievous! They totally made me and Eugene play along. Hope Gracie doesn't mind!]
I just shot back a quick reply: [It's fine. I don't mind.]
Then I put my phone on silent and went back to work.
When I finally wrapped up, I saw Eugene had totally blown up my phone. Dozens of missed calls and a flood of messages.
He said: [It was just a dare from the game.]
[I snapped the Pocky super fast. Our lips didn't even get close.]
[Our lips were miles apart.]
[Can you please just text me back?]
"Gracie, we're heading to that new Chinese place down the street," one of my coworkers called out.
We'd planned to grab some food together after working late.
"Coming," I replied.
As I answered, I quickly texted Eugene back: [Just finished up at work, didn't see your messages. It's all good, I understand.]
As I stepped out of the office building, I spotted Eugene waiting outside.
Seriously? How long has he been out here?
When he saw me, his eyes lit up and he hurried over.
I asked, puzzled, "You guys called it a night this early?"
I remembered how their hangouts used to go on all night. They never called it quits until dawn.
"I left early," Eugene replied.
Never thought I'd see the day.
Thinking of his childhood friend Emily, I asked, "What about Emily?"
"I dropped her off at home," Eugene said.
"I'm going to grab dinner with my coworkers, so... what about you?" I started.
I just couldn't ask him to come along.
Eugene jumped in before I could say anything. "No worries, I'll wait for you."
Well, so much for dinner.
I told my coworkers I'd have to skip dinner this time. They still didn't know things had changed between Eugene and me, so after a few friendly jokes, they left us alone.
Eugene just stood there, watching me quietly, his eyes looking a little bloodshot.
"You're not mad," he said.
"Huh?" I blinked.