Chapter 1
Before getting into the taxi, Susan grabbed my hand.
"Olivia, I'm not asking you to break up with him right now. I want to ask you. If he really cared about you, would he have you making excuses for him to me?"
I looked at the dark hair at her temples, dyed to cover the gray.
She was worried Eric would see her as old, so she spent half an hour in front of the mirror last night.
"Mom, I know," I said.
"Good," she said.
She didn't push further.
That was how Mom was. She always kept her pain to herself, so I could hold my head high.
After the taxi drove off, Eric came out of the restaurant, holding a box of cake.
"I asked the waiter. Your mom likes cake. Take it home, maybe it'll help her calm down," he said.
I didn't take it.
He said, "Come on, Olivia, don't be like this. It really was bad timing today. Chloe's client wanted to cancel their order, and we're counting on that one to pay everyone this month."
"And what about my mom?" I asked.
"Your mom will have other chances to see me," he said.
He said it so offhand, like he didn't even think about it.
As if, after seven years of broken promises, he could make it up to me whenever he felt like it.
I asked, "Do you even remember my mom's name?"
Eric opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He couldn't remember.
I couldn't help but laugh a little.
His expression shifted.
"Don't test me on little things like that. Nobody really uses their mom's name, right?" Eric said.
I said, "What's Chloe's cat's name?"
He immediately shut up.
I answered for him, "Orange. You even said it's picky, only eats chicken breast."
Eric crushed the cake box in his hand.
"Come on, that's not fair. Chloe's at the shop every day. It's only natural I know about her," he said.
"My mom has been waiting for you for seven years, and you don't even know her name is Susan. Guess that's how it is?" I shot back.
His brows furrowed.
"Olivia, don't give me that attitude," he said.
"I'm keeping track," I replied.
"Keeping track of what?"
I glanced at the light hanging by the restaurant entrance.
"I'm keeping score of when I finally need to wake up," I said.
Eric reached out, trying to take my hand.
I stepped back.
His phone rang for the third time.
This time, he hesitated for a couple of seconds before answering.
"Chloe, don't cry. I'll be back at the shop right away," he said.
After hanging up, Eric looked at me.
"I need to head back. I'll come find you tonight," he said.
I nodded.
"Go on, then," I told him.
He left in a hurry, never once looking back.
I stood under the awning, holding the cake Mom had taken from me, and texted someone.
[Mr. Warren, is that meeting you mentioned still on for tomorrow?] I asked.
Mr. Warren was David. He replied almost instantly.
[It's still on. Nine tomorrow morning, at the café next to City Hall,] he said.
Mom had a neighbor introduce David to me about half a year ago.
I'd turned him down once before.
Back then, I still thought seven years together was worth an explanation.
At ten o'clock that night, Eric finally texted me.
[Are you home yet? Don't be mad at me. I'm doing this for us,] he wrote.
I stared at the words 'for us' and remembered when Eric first opened his shop. I was the one who paid the rent.
He didn't know how to talk to the landlord, so I stayed up late with him, helping him work things out.
When the first batch of mock-ups got sent back by the client, I pulled an all-nighter reworking them.
He took the new designs to sign the contract, and when he came back, he hugged me and said, "Olivia, once the shop really gets successful, I'll move you and your mom into a bigger house."
Eventually, the shop became a real success.
There was a photo of him and Chloe together hanging on the wall.
Me? I was nothing but an entry in his ledger.
My phone buzzed again.
This time, it was a screenshot of Chloe's Instagram post.
She was standing at the shop entrance, draped in Eric's jacket, with the caption: [Thanks, Eric. I honestly don't know what I would've done without you tonight.]
Everyone started joking around in the comments.
[Eric really pampers her.]
[Bet the boss lady's going to be jealous.]
Chloe replied, [Don't say that, Olivia's the most easygoing.]
The most easygoing?
After seven years, that was all I amounted to.