For a second, Brandon looked surprised. Then he finally reached out and took it. "Thanks."
He looked like he wanted to say something more, but I cut him off. "Drive safe."
I reached up and straightened his collar, just like I always did when he left. Deep down, I knew this would be the last time.
Brandon's expression softened slightly like something in him had shifted. He grasped my hand and pulled me closer to his chest. "I'll be back soon. Wait for me."
I didn't wait.
After sending a quick text to my lawyer about starting the divorce process, I went to bed early.
In the middle of the night, a notification from WhatsApp woke me up. It was 1 a.m., and as expected, the other side of the bed was still empty.
I checked my phone and saw several messages from Jenna.
[Brandon is just so hot!]
[I wanna eat him up while he's sleeping!]
Attached was a photo of Brandon asleep. His head rested on her pink cartoon pillow, his hair tousled, lips slightly parted in a way that once made my heart skip a beat.
When she saw the "typing…" indicator appear at the top of the chat, Jenna quickly deleted the messages and sent me an emoji of a cat begging for forgiveness.
[Oops! Meant to send those to my bestie, but accidentally sent them to you. I was just messing around--don't be mad! Brandon's already knocked out.]
She probably expected me to blow up her phone with angry calls, like I had before.
But this time, I just blocked her and went back to sleep.
Whether she was playing games or being serious didn't matter anymore.
The next morning, they showed up at work together.
Jenna, always trying to be delicate, tripped over her own feet, her face going pale with fear.
Without hesitation, Brandon scooped her up and carried her into the office.
Her cheeks flushed, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, glancing back at me with a smug grin.
One of my coworkers sidled up to me, whispering, "Can you believe that girl? Jenna doesn't even know how to work the copier, let alone anything else. How has she been Mr. Louis's secretary for half a year? You don't think he's, like, actually into her, do you?"
I was busy texting my lawyer and nodded absentmindedly. "Maybe."
As soon as the words left my mouth, I heard Brandon's voice. "Sylvia, come with me."
I turned around to find him standing right behind me, his eyes cold and unfeeling.