He Set Rules for Me but Broke Them All for Her Chapter 06

He Set Rules for Me but Broke Them All for Her Chapter 06

After Soren finished introducing himself, applause filled the room.

The manager smiled as he kept refilling Soren’s glass, but Soren waved him off, saying he had to

drive himself.

The manager finally set down the bottle and turned to get everyone else eating and drinking.

I watched it all in a daze.

My coworker, Maya, slid over, elbowing me with a gossip-hungry grin. “Hey, Marne. No one else

saw it, but I definitely did. You walked in with him. We’ve worked together for years and I’ve never seen you with anyone. Spill it. What’s going on?!”

I dropped my gaze with a dry laugh. “What are you even imagining? There’s nothing going on.” But

when I looked up again and caught Soren’s eyes, I quickly looked away.

I hadn’t expected this either.

The blind date my mom had set up turned out to be my new boss. All coincidence.

When we’d first messaged, he only said he wasn’t in Holloway yet. I didn’t think much of it and told

him we’d meet another time.

Next thing I knew, he was running my department.

By the end of the dinner, half the room was drunk, including me.

Maybe it was the relief of finally clearing the air. I’d had a couple extra glasses myself.

Everyone said their goodbyes in a rush. I grabbed my bag and pulled out my phone to call a ride.

Soren’s voice came from beside me. He was twirling his keys, a smile playing at the corner of his

eye. “Can I have the chance to take you home?”

I stared at him.

After a beat, I nodded.

In the passenger seat, everything still felt surreal, like a dream.

I used to think that after Remy, I’d never open myself up to anyone again, voluntarily or otherwise.

But then again, vows weren’t diamond-hard. It made sense they could break.

On the seat was a fresh bouquet of white lisianthus, clearly prepared ahead of time.

Soren handed them to me, his eyes bright.

He leaned over and buckled my seatbelt for me before pulling back with a warm smile. “I’m glad to see Summer is taking such good care of herself.”

I froze, a wave of absurdity and embarrassment washing over me.

Summer. The pen name I’d used years ago, because Summer was my favorite season. Only one person had ever known it. My old pen pal. He’d always been kind, optimistic, a tireless/sounding board.

Every time I’d poured out some insecure, fragile thought, he’d write back pages and pages, proving I wasn’t as worthless as I thought.

Then one day, his account went dark. I’d sent him a long message, wondering if he’d finally gotten

sick of me.

I waited two years. Then I deleted the account.

Soren smiled. “That was me.”

A little bitter, he added, “Sorry. My family had a major crisis back then. By the time I got back into

that account, you’d already deleted yours.

My eyes burned. I couldn’t speak. I just shook my head.

Once I’d calmed down, I opened my phone.

A message from Remy was sitting there, sent two hours ago.

Remy: [You left your stuff here.]

At the time, I’d been caught up chatting with my coworkers and hadn’t noticed.

Maybe because I’d been replying less frequently, he’d followed up half an hour later with a photo- all my things, gathered together.

The blue bookmarks I’d bought.

The matching couple’s mugs, but his was still in its packaging because he’d called it childish and

never used it.

The little plush doll I’d picked up at Disneyland when I went by myself.

I’d invited both of them. Cora said she was busy. Remy said Disney was too childish. No way was he going with me.

Then they’d turned up in the same social media post not long after.

I thought for a second, then typed back: [Throw it all away. I don’t want it.]

The message turned to “Read” immediately, but he didn’t reply.

I didn’t care. I leaned back in the passenger seat.

I dozed off.

When the car slowed to a stop, I opened the door and saw a tall figure standing perfectly still under a streetlamp not far away, staring straight at us.