Chapter 2
At first, I didn't think much about Adrian mentoring Sophie personally.
He still came home on time. When he mentioned her, it was usually to say she learned quickly or that the project team had finally stopped openly questioning whether she belonged there.
I even thought I had done the right thing by speaking up for her at the anniversary party.
Then came Friday night.
Adrian and I hadn't had an uninterrupted dinner together in weeks. I finished my clinic early and made one of his favorite meals. A thin candle burned between our plates, and his wine had been breathing for nearly half an hour.
His phone rang.
Sophie's name appeared on the screen.
Adrian answered, and his expression immediately sharpened. He set down his napkin and tapped two fingers against the edge of the table.
"There's a problem with the project."
"Now?"
"Her proposal got torn apart by the team." He was already reaching for his jacket. "I'll go take a look. Ten minutes."
I glanced at his nearly untouched plate.
"Dinner will get cold."
"I'll be right back."
The door closed.
The candle kept burning.
Ten minutes became forty. Then an hour.
Eventually, I put Adrian's steak into a container. The juices had congealed into a pale film across the white plate. When I blew out the candle, a thin ribbon of smoke rose above the table, and the dining room suddenly felt empty.
I didn't call him.
I remembered Sophie's pale face at the anniversary party and the way her fingers had crushed that paper cup. She was new to a difficult team. Of course she might need guidance when they challenged her.
Adrian came home after midnight.
He placed his keys carefully on the entry table, as though he didn't want to wake me.
"Did you fix it?"
"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "They cornered her and she panicked."
I let it go.
The next morning, Adrian was in the shower when his phone lit up on the nightstand.
I reached for it only because I thought it was his alarm.
Then I saw Sophie's message.
Thank you for staying last night. You're the only person at this company who believes in me.
My hand stopped above the screen.
Seconds later, another appeared.
If it weren't for you, I honestly wouldn't know who else to turn to.
Water ran steadily behind the bathroom door.
I stared at the words for a few seconds before returning the phone to exactly where it had been, even adjusting its angle against the nightstand.
When Adrian came out, he picked it up.
He read the messages.
The corner of his mouth moved.
It wasn't quite a smile.
But I saw it.
That evening, he left his phone charging in the kitchen. I happened to glimpse their conversation again.
Sophie's two messages were still there.
Between them was an empty space where something should have been.
Adrian had deleted his reply.