On the night of my twenty-third birthday, I was ready to confess my feelings to Caleb Thorne. But he beat me to it, falling in love at first sight with my roommate, Lydia. I watched them for years—breaking up, making up, and caught in an endless, toxic cycle. Finally, I gave up. I found someone else. The day I went Instagram official with my new boyfriend, everyone showered us with sincere congratulations. Caleb was the only one who didn't show up. Until the next day, when someone brought it up right in front of him. "Did you see the post? What do you think of Nina’s new guy?" Caleb leaned back on the sofa, his eyes flicking toward me for a split second. After a long silence, he spoke with a slow, indifferent drawl. "Eh. He’s average." 1 The moment Caleb’s words hit the floor, the room went dead silent. Every eye in the place turned toward me. Some were looking for drama; others were genuinely worried. In this day and age, everyone loves a good "soft launch" on social media. When two people stand shoulder to shoulder, smiling and clearly in love, who doesn't want to hear that they’re a perfect match? But Caleb? He just sat there and threw out a casual, "Eh, he’s average." Caleb Thorne was many things—moody and arrogant, mostly—but he was usually a man of impeccable social standing. To say this now felt like a deliberate attempt to humiliate me. I swallowed the fire rising in my chest and looked him in the eye. "And what exactly is wrong with him?" The truth was, Grant was handsome. Even my mother, who is notoriously impossible to please, couldn't help but praise him when they met. "He’s definitely on par with that Thorne boy you know," she’d said. I glared at Caleb, my expression tight with displeasure. But he just let out a weary, jaded laugh. He flicked a glance at me. "Just a passing comment. Don't take it to heart." "Bring him around sometime. Let’s see what he’s really about." With that, he stood up and walked away without looking back. He didn't spare me a single glance. Someone tried to comfort me, whispering, "Tsk, ignore him, Nina. He just broke up with Lydia again. He’s probably just in a foul mood." "You know how they are. They’ll be back together in a week." The person looked at me for confirmation. "Right, Nina?" I drifted for a second. "Yeah. That’s usually how it goes." They had been entangled for so long. People like that don't just part ways easily. Over the past few years, I had hoped and been disappointed more times than I could count. I should have known better by now, right? 2 After leaving the lounge, I spotted Caleb smoking a cigarette not far off. He rarely did that. Lydia hated the smell. Tonight, he was acting completely out of character. I was still fuming over his comment, so I didn't say a word as I tried to walk past him. I hadn't taken two steps before a hand clamped firmly around my wrist. I turned around to meet a pair of cool, indifferent eyes. Ever since I first met him, I’d heard the stories. Caleb Thorne, the legendary heir to the Thorne empire, groomed for the throne since he was in diapers. People threw themselves at him in droves, but he never looked at anyone. When I became close with him, everyone told me I was the luckiest girl alive. For years, I was the only girl in his inner circle. People used to whisper behind my back. "Who knows? Maybe one day the 'best friend' will become the 'Mrs. Thorne.'" It’s not that I never had that dream. But then Lydia appeared, and I realized she was his "soulmate." He had stayed single for twenty years just to wait for her. As for me? I was just lucky enough to be an acquaintance. Under the dim lights, he stared at me, his expression lazy. He said, "How did you meet him?" I didn't process the question at first. I froze. He repeated it, his patience wearing thin. "I asked... how did you meet that guy?" 3 The winter wind was biting. Caleb instinctively shifted his body to block the cold draft for me. I looked at his face and remained silent for a moment. "We met while traveling. I liked his vibe, so we started dating." There’s a phrase for it: right place, right time. That was me and Grant. Caleb’s eyelids fluttered. "Traveling? When did you go on a trip? I didn't know about this." I gave a small, bitter smile. "Last month." He probably didn't remember. One night last month, he called me in the middle of the night, panicking because Lydia had picked a fight and hopped on a flight to London in a rage. He said, "You’re her closest friend, you have to help me talk to her. She’s alone in a foreign city, she’s going to get hurt." I packed my bags overnight and flew across the ocean with him. But shortly after we landed, he got a tip that she had already left for Paris. A round trip, sixteen hours of travel. I came down with a high fever and couldn't keep going. He left me in the hotel and went to find Lydia. After he left, I stood by the window overlooking the Thames, watching the cold moon, and suddenly felt a profound exhaustion. For the sake of staying by his side, I had turned down stable jobs in my hometown. Even last year, when my father was hospitalized, I couldn't be there. Time is heartless. No one knows what I gained or what I lost. Snapping back to the present, I looked at Caleb and spoke calmly. "Are you done? I have to go." He was stunned. After a long silence, he spoke again. "Let me borrow your phone. Lydia blocked me." I really wanted to ask—there were a dozen people in that room, did it have to be my phone? But the words stayed in my throat. After all, the joy, the pain, the despair... from start to finish, I was the only one who knew. In his eyes, I was the perfect friend. Nothing more. I pulled out my phone and handed it to him. He took it and walked off to make the call. They talked for a long while. When Caleb came back, the tension had left his face. He smiled and handed the phone back to me. Just as I took it, a message popped up on the screen. Grant: [I’ll be back next month, babe.] In an instant, the smile on Caleb’s face vanished. He narrowed his eyes, his voice turning cold. "You two seem pretty serious." 4 Since I had decided to let go, I began to intentionally distance myself from Caleb’s circle. I stopped initiating contact and avoided the places where they hung out. One day, Caleb messaged me. [Your birthday is in two days. Want to come check out the venue I booked?] He was always generous like that. Whenever a friend had a birthday, he’d go all out to organize it. I wasn't the first, and I wouldn't be the last. But I still remember my twenty-third birthday. Caleb had pointed at Lydia, who was standing across the room, and asked me, "Is that your friend? Send me her contact info." A perfect match. I suppose they should thank me for being the matchmaker. Later, Caleb went through hell to win Lydia over. I heard someone ask him, Why her? At the time, he was texting her. He looked up, smirked, and said, "She wore a red dress that night. I've never seen anyone look that good in red." But who remembers that I was wearing red that night, too? In the years following, I never touched that color again. I typed back: [I'm busy. Don't worry about it.] It took a long time for a reply to come. [Busy dating?] I replied: [Yes.] He didn't respond after that. Instead, his best friend, Leo, sent me a voice note, sounding amused. "Impressive, Nina. Caleb spent so much time planning this party. We were up half the night for days, and you just blow it off? You really pissed him off, haha." I sent a casual reply. Just then, a red dot appeared on my email icon. It was a job offer. I smiled, feeling a genuine spark of joy, and messaged Grant. [Once I finish the handover here, I can resign. When you get back, we’re moving back to Portland together.] It was a coincidence that we were both from the same city. He replied: [Good.] Grant was a serious man, a man of few words. But looking at that one word, I couldn't help but smile.
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