Chapter 7

Dayana handed her wedding ring and all their couple accessories to Spencer, telling him to keep them safe. She joked that she was so scatterbrained, she'd probably lose them if he didn't hold onto them for her.

Spencer felt a kind of panic he'd never known before. 'Why does it feel like Dayana is drifting further and further away from me?' he thought, 'I can barely hold onto her anymore.'

Those things were her pride and joy. She used to polish them three times a day. How could she just hand them over so casually? And the wedding ring, she never even took it off to shower.

But he didn't have time to think it over. He'd already agreed to catch the new release with Natasha.

Half a year had flown by, and Halloween was just around the corner. Every year on this day, Dayana and Spencer would go to an escape room together. It was where they had their first kiss.

But in recent years, Dayana had been coming alone. As soon as she walked in, she spotted Kate working the front desk.

Dayana wondered for a moment why Kate was there, but before she could figure it out, Spencer and Natasha came out from inside. They all froze when they saw her.

"What are you doing here?" Spencer blurted out.

Back in school, Dayana was always the brave one, constantly pestering Spencer to go to haunted houses and other creepy places. Spencer was actually terrified, but he'd always put on a tough act and pretend nothing could faze him.

On Dayana's birthday, she had to coax and nag Spencer for ages before he finally agreed to join her. Dayana charged ahead, fearless through every obstacle.

When they reached the final challenge, the escape room required them to share a passionate kiss to unlock the exit.

They hadn't kissed at all since getting together, and Dayana's cheeks flushed bright red with shyness. Spencer kept his face stoic as he leaned in, acting all nonchalant, but his ears were burning red.

From then on, they promised to come back to the escape room every Halloween. But now, it seemed like Dayana was the only one who still held onto that tradition.

Spencer coughed awkwardly, realizing he'd put his foot in his mouth, and quickly explained, "Kate wanted to come, and Natasha said she's never tried an escape room before, so I brought them along. Since we bumped into you, let's just play together."

"Yeah, Dayana, I heard you're a pro at this. Let's play together," Natasha chimed in.

Dayana didn't even acknowledge them, marching ahead without a second glance. Hearing Natasha's fake scared noises behind her, she picked up the pace.

Since she'd been through this escape room so many times, the characters didn't faze her at all anymore. She breezed through the whole thing in just ten minutes, like she owned the place.

Dayana got home early and saw movers hauling stuff out. Spencer had bought Natasha a new place somewhere else, saying he didn't want her getting in Dayana's way.

She went straight to her room, and just as she was about to fall asleep, her phone rang. It was Natasha.

"Dayana, Spencer's new place is huge! I've never lived in a place this big before. It's even bigger than your house," Natasha gushed.

"You have no idea how amazing Spencer was today. He's so charming, brave, and really thoughtful. We totally relied on him to get through the escape room. Why did you leave so early? I was hoping we could check out that new Korean place downstairs from our company together.

"Why don't you come over now? Spencer made a whole table full of delicious food. We..."

Dayana pinched the bridge of her nose, cutting Natasha off before she could keep flaunting her relationship. "That's none of my business. I'm not interested in hearing about it."

She hung up, but no matter what she did, she just couldn't fall asleep. 'Since when did Spencer start cooking?' she wondered. 'He's always hated kitchen fumes and wouldn't even go near the stove.'

Her mind wandered for a while, and before she knew it, she'd drifted off. The next morning, a knock at the door woke her up. Still groggy, she opened the door to see Adelina. She stepped aside to let Adelina through.

"Dayana, I tried calling but you didn't answer, so I had to come over myself. The girls and I are throwing you a going-away party tonight at Lunar Lounge. Drinks are on us! Go get ready and come out with us," Adelina said.

Dayana grabbed her phone and realized it was turned off. She stuffed the charger in her pocket, quickly washed up, and headed out with Adelina.

They spent the whole day living it up, and by nightfall, they got totally wasted, like they were trying to wash away all the crap they'd been dealing with lately.

Dayana and Adelina went to the bathroom together, and down at the end of the hall, they spotted Spencer and Natasha. Natasha was practically hanging off Spencer, the two of them locked in a passionate kiss, totally lost in the moment.

"Spencer, it's been a while," Adelina said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Seriously, you two couldn't even wait a week? You just had to start making out in front of everyone?" Adelina snapped, her teeth clenched.

Spencer and Natasha scrambled to separate. Natasha's lipstick was smeared everywhere, and when she saw Dayana, she hurriedly whipped out her compact to fix her makeup, totally caught red-handed and looking mortified.

"Uh, I had too much to drink, and Natasha just steadied me for a second. Don't get the wrong idea," Spencer tried to explain, acting all casual.

"A week? What do you mean?" Spencer asked, genuinely confused.

If it weren't for Natasha's ruined makeup and the way she was gazing at Spencer, maybe they'd have actually believed that weak excuse.

"Dayana, Spencer was just here for work, and the clients kept pouring drinks for him. Please don't be mad, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen," Natasha pleaded, her voice soft and apologetic.

Dayana didn't say a word, but Adelina wasn't known for her patience. She stared straight at Natasha, her eyes cold and unyielding.