Chapter 3
We lay in bed, silent as ghosts, doing nothing but staring at the ceiling, sleep nowhere in sight.
Before Ellery got back, I grabbed my bike and pedaled to the apartment.
Once there, I rummaged through my drawer and pulled out the transfer notice for a job in Chiwagio.
They called it a transfer, but it was really a step up—better pay, bigger title.
In my old life, I turned it down to marry Ellery.
Three months later, they shipped us off to different cities.
After that, Ellery started ghosting me, keeping me at a distance no matter where we were.
Then I got pregnant, and Ellery? Poof—gone.
I was left juggling a kid, both our parents, and a job that chewed me up and spit me out.
Slowly, I got sidelined at work, shuffled from key projects to dead-end desks.
No raises, no promotions, ever.
By the time my son was in grade school, he'd look at me—frazzled, plain—and sneer.
"Other moms look so nice," he'd say. "Why can't you fix yourself up like… like them?"
Like who? Mandy?
The more I thought about it, the more it stung.
Even back then, my kid was talking to his "missing" dad behind my back. Kept it secret his whole damn life.
What a kick in the teeth.
*****
At dinner, Ellery didn't swing by like he usually did.
I grabbed my lunchbox and trudged to the cafeteria alone.
There, I spotted him sitting across from Mandy, piling food onto her plate like they were on a date.
He said something, and she giggled, covering her mouth like a schoolgirl.
When he saw me, Ellery froze, then jumped up like he'd been caught.
"Hey, Helen! You're here," he said. "Uh, Mandy just rolled into town, and her place is a mess, so I brought her to grab a bite. I was gonna pick something up for you later, but you beat me to it."
Early? The cafeteria was practically a ghost town.
The food left was barely worth scraping off the trays.
My mind flashed to my old life.
After we got our marriage license, Ellery said he'd hit the cafeteria for dinner.
I waited hours. When he finally showed, his hands were empty.
"They ran out," he said, cool as you please. "Just deal with it tonight."
That night, the only sound was my stomach growling.
Turned out, he was already playing house with Mandy.
I didn't say a word, just brushed past him. I scooped up the sorry leftovers and headed back to my place.
Halfway through my meal, there was a knock.
Ellery and Mandy stood in the doorway.
His face was unreadable, like he was chewing on something tough.
He cleared his throat. "Helen, can we talk for a minute?"
I just stared.
He glanced at Mandy, who was shrinking behind him like a spooked kitten.
His eyes went soft, and when he spoke again, his voice had a new kind of steel.
"So, Mandy just got back from the city," he said. "You know she's on her own, and her place hasn't been touched in forever—it's a wreck.
"Since we haven't tied the knot yet, I was thinking… maybe we could let her crash at our place for a few days?"
I flicked my eyes to Mandy. She flinched, ducking behind him.
I'd seen two Mandys—one in my old life, one now—and they were night and day.
If she wasn't some kind of time-traveler like me, I'd be shocked.
But I wasn't here to play along with her act.
This guy? I was over him. Whatever Mandy was plotting, it was a waste of her time.
"Sure," I said. "It's your house. Do whatever."
Ellery blinked, thrown by how fast I agreed. Whatever speech he'd rehearsed got lodged in his throat.
"But," I added, "I don't like people messing with my stuff. I'll swing by later to grab it."
He waved his hands. "No need, I got you. I'll move your things to the other room."
So, not only did he want Mandy in our house, he wanted her sleeping in our bed.
What a joke.
I caught Mandy smirking, just barely, out of the corner of my eye.
After dinner, I grabbed a flashlight and headed to the house to pack my stuff.
When I got there, Ellery was making the bed for Mandy—using the brand-new sheets I'd picked out for our wedding night, no less.
He looked up, startled. "Helen? What're you doing here? I already moved your stuff to my room."
"Oh," I said, and turned to the other room to grab my things.