Chapter 2

In middle school, after every soccer game, Joseph always went for ice cream with his teammates.

I'd just squat by the field, hugging my backpack and waiting for him until the sun stretched our shadows long.

He'd eventually come over, pull me up by the arm, and grumble, "Lucille, what are you, glued to the spot?"

Still, despite the complaints, he'd split his strawberry popsicle in half and give me my share.

He honestly hated it when people teased him for never going anywhere without his shadow.

One time, during a game of marbles in the alley, his friends teased, "Joseph brought his girlfriend along."

He got so mad that he angrily dumped all his glass marbles into the drain.

But the next day, when I was stuck at home with a fever, he skipped school and sneaked over the fence to my place.

He tossed little notes through my window, each one filled with a silly joke in his messy scrawl.

Once we hit high school, I caught Joseph sneaking glances at me more times than I could count.

Whether I was chewing on my pen while working through a math problem, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, or even just napping with my head on the desk, I could always feel his eyes on me.

His gaze would brush past me, as light and fleeting as a summer breeze.

"Joseph." I suddenly turned around, catching him dead-on before he could dodge my gaze. "Can you help me with this question?"

His pen clattered onto the ground.

The morning sun poured through the window, lighting up his ears—so red that they looked almost translucent.

"I..." He scrambled to pick up his pen, his fringe brushing against the back of my hand. "Just... just use this formula here..."

His words got softer and softer until he was basically muttering.

I rested my chin in my hand, watching him. The same guy who'd fight for me without a second thought was now shaking, just from me getting a little too close.

Outside the window, petals fell softly onto the pages of his textbook.

The night our parents suggested we should get engaged, he dragged me into the fire escape.

As the motion-sensor light flickered overhead, his hand—clammy and tense—squeezed mine so tightly that it almost hurt.

"You need to think this through," he said, voice unsteady. "You're still young. What if you find someone better someday and—"

I stretched up on tiptoes and covered his mouth with my hand. "Joseph, you're the best person in the entire world."

He shivered, and then suddenly pressed me back against the wall and kissed me.

In the dark, my fingers lingered over the scar at the back of his neck—the one he got in middle school when he threw himself in harm's way to protect me from something falling.

That night, the moonlight slipped through the iron bars and scattered over us in patches, making me almost fool myself into thinking we really were in love.

After college, I joined the Shaw Group and ended up working under Joseph.

Just when we were about to get engaged, Yvonne walked into our lives.

She was the newest intern in the company. And as luck would have it, she became Joseph's secretary.

On her first day, Yvonne came in with coffee for everyone, flashing a big cheerful smile. "Hey, everyone, I'm Yvonne. Can't wait to work with you guys."

When she reached me, she stopped mid-action. "Whoa..." She giggled behind her hand. "Are you actually using a thermos with cartoon characters on it? That's so tacky."

Seeing me stay quiet, she nibbled her lip. "Sorry, it's just my blunt honesty. I swear, I wasn't trying to say you have bad taste.

"But really, Lucille, how old are you? Still this childish? I always thought women in the office were supposed to be all classy and have great style."

Every eye in the office locked onto me.

My workspace was completely covered in cute characters—from the cartoon-themed keyboard and collectible figurines right down to the decorative stickers lining my monitor.

What Joseph used to jokingly call "Lucille's little treasures" was now sitting there on display, being judged like evidence in court with everyone staring.

A high-pitched whine filled my ears, so loud that it felt like a drill boring into my skull.

This was the first time I'd ever been maliciously mocked in public. The shame was so overwhelming, and I just wanted the ground to swallow me up.

"Sorry, Lucille. Guess I'm just super blunt." Yvonne tilted her head, her new crystal nails drumming on my coaster with its cute character design. "Come on, Lucille, don't tell me you're so uptight that you can't even take a joke."

I gripped my skirt tightly, trying hard not to show how shaken I was.

"That's enough." Joseph's voice cut through the tension from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw his lips pressed into a thin line of displeasure.

Sunlight poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, gilding his silhouette. For a split second, he looked just like that middle school boy who'd throw punches for me without a second thought.

Yvonne pouted, clearly annoyed. "I was just messing around with Lucille. Seriously, Mr. Shaw, you have to step in for this kind of thing?"

"This isn't a lounge for chit-chat, Yvonne. If you're so eager to make small talk, maybe you should resign and chat to your heart's content elsewhere," Joseph snapped, his voice cold as ice.

Yvonne had no choice but to drag herself back to her desk, clearly sulking.