365 Days of Rain, 365 Days of Her, Zero Days of Me Chapter 01

365 Days of Rain, 365 Days of Her, Zero Days of Me Chapter 01

Every morning, same routine. I’d ask my boyfriend Julian Fletcher for a ride to work.

Every morning, his excuse was the same — people would gossip.

Then this morning happened. I was standing at a crosswalk in the downpour when a car hit a puddle and soaked me from head to toe.

The driver was Julian. And the girl in his passenger seat was Chloe Bennett — the intern on my team.

Seacrest had a brutal rainy season that lasted half the year. Months of endless gray. Julian never once pulled over for me.

But for Chloe? Every single morning for the past year, rain or shine. He never missed one.

A woman next to me handed me a tissue. “That’s Seacrest for you. You get used to it.”

I smiled. “I won’t have to.”

My transfer had been approved last week. By next Monday, I’d be in a city where the sun actually showed up year-round. No more standing in the rain, wondering how I was supposed to get anywhere.

***

I made it to the office right on time, still dripping. No time to change. I grabbed my laptop, rushed into the meeting room, and looked straight at Julian.

He broke eye contact before a full second passed. A couple of coworkers asked if I was okay. I nodded, picked the chair farthest from him, and sat down.

My phone buzzed. Julian. [Why didn’t you take a cab today?]

I texted back that there was a massive wait on the ride-share app before I even left the apartment. He sent back [Lol].

I looked up and caught him laughing with Chloe, leaning in, totally at ease. I didn’t reply. During the break, the whole room was complaining about the rain.

“God, we all showed up looking like we swam here.” Someone nudged Julian. “Must be nice having your own car. And your department gets better pay, too.”

“Forget the car — I just want a guy like Julian playing chauffeur every morning. Chloe’s living the dream.”

I took a sip of coffee. It went down bitter.

When I first moved to Seacrest, I was all in. Julian and I had a plan — grind together, build a life here.

Then he drained our joint savings — every dollar we’d put away for a place together — and bought himself a car. The number of times he actually drove me anywhere? I could count them on one hand.

Because that car was never for us. It was for him to play hero for Chloe.

The meeting wrapped up. The AC blasted through my damp clothes, and I sneezed.

Julian’s voice came from behind me. “You should grab some cold medicine.”

Chloe caught up to me, smiling. “Audrey, I still have the cold medicine Julian bought me. Want me to get it?”

“I’m fine, I already ordered some.”

Julian’s concern never went past empty words. After a while, you just learned to handle everything yourself.

Julian and Chloe headed to the cafeteria for lunch and asked me to come. I turned them down. My handover deadline was tight, and I didn’t have a single hour to waste.

My phone buzzed again. Julian.

[Are you mad?]

[Chloe lives way out there. With rain this bad, I wasn’t gonna make her deal with it alone. It’s just a ride, babe.]

Just a ride. Except it was never just once. He followed up with a meme — one from the same sticker pack Chloe always used.

[Don’t get jealous lol]

[She’s basically like a little sister. She only moved to Seacrest because I’m here, and she doesn’t know anyone else in the city. I’m all she’s got, so yeah, I look out for her.]

Funny how he forgot I’d done the exact same thing — left everything behind, moved across the country for him.

[Yeah, you should.]

The typing bubble hovered for a few seconds. Then: [Good.]

Heels clicked louder down the hall. Chloe dropped into the chair beside me.

I looked down at my waterlogged flats. I’d had them forever — the edges were scuffed black.

The raw skin on my ankle had turned pale and soft from the rain. A flash of light caught my eye — a reflection off something.

Chloe was touching up her lipstick. The tube looked familiar. I’d seen the same one sitting in Julian’s online cart last week.

Chloe paused and held up the lipstick. “Julian got it for me. A probation gift — last week marked three months since I started here.”

Last week was also my five-year anniversary with Julian. He told me he forgot.

In the afternoon all-hands, the VP made his usual rounds and stopped when he got to me.

“Client-facing teams need to look the part.” He paused. “Chloe’s got it figured out after three months. Some of you have been here for years and still haven’t caught on.”

Chloe dipped her head, barely hiding a smile. Julian looked at me and said nothing.

After the meeting, Valerie Mercer asked me to hang back.

The door clicked shut. Valerie squeezed my shoulder. “I went through your handover doc. It’s thorough — no issues from my end.”

She went quiet for a moment. “You took a pay cut to come here. Turned down a team lead position. All for Julian.” She shook her head. “I never thought it was worth it.”

I smiled. Valerie and I went to the same college — she graduated a few years ahead of me. She was the only person on the team who knew Julian and I were together.

“So what finally snapped you out of it?”

It wasn’t one massive blowout.

I came here to be close to him. Now all I wanted was distance. As much of it as I could get.