"See?" he said, his voice calm but tinged with frustration. "I told you it was about work. You got angry for nothing. Are you satisfied now?"
I looked at him, his steady gaze challenging me to doubt him further. It was true—he had never hidden anything about his dealings with Ella. He was always transparent, almost to a fault.
But still, a question lingered in my mind: Can you truly claim a clear conscience if you don’t even try to draw boundaries?
Ever since James started working, our opportunities to meet have dwindled, a casualty of our long-distance relationship. Meanwhile, the person who spends the most time with him every day is Ella.
The first time I met her was when I accompanied James to his new workplace. She approached him with a stack of documents, her smile bright and confident. When she noticed me, her tone turned sweet.
"This is Mr. Carter's girlfriend? You're so beautiful. Mr. Carter is really lucky."
At the time, I thought nothing of it. But as the days turned into weeks, Ella became a constant presence in his life. They worked overtime together, conducted research side by side, and even traveled for business.
I’ve seen her call him at two in the morning. I’ve seen her hold his hand with an intimacy far beyond what one might expect from colleagues, acting coquettishly as if there was no one else in the room.
It made me deeply uncomfortable, this familiarity that blurred professional boundaries. But James never seemed to think there was anything wrong.
When I voiced my concerns, he dismissed them outright, his tone tinged with frustration.
"I teach with Ms. Hughes. We have a lot to handle every day. You can’t keep projecting your suspicions onto me just because you’re overly sensitive."
His words stung, each one a blade that chipped away at my resolve. I stood there, silent, his voice dragging me back to the present.
"Am I sensitive?" I asked, my voice shaking with disbelief and hurt.
He sighed, pulling me into his arms, his tone softening as if to soothe me.
"Okay, okay. I’m not as free as I was during school, and I don’t have as much time to coax you anymore. Be good, alright?"
He leaned down to kiss me, but I turned my face away, my hands clenched tightly by my sides.
"So, are you going to see her now?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He paused for a moment, then replied,