Seven Times I Drew Blank, Seven Times They Drew Each Other Chapter 08

Seven Times I Drew Blank, Seven Times They Drew Each Other Chapter 08

For the next week, Julian searched everywhere he thought I might have gone. No one knew where I

was.

At first, his messages were demands. Then they turned into explanations.

Julian: [Nora, come back.]

Julian: [I’ll apologize for the game.]

Julian: [We can put the wedding back on.]

Julian: [That ring was never meant for Vanessa.]

Julian: [I already had her give it back.]

Julian: [Come back, and from now on, you’ll have a place at every get-together.]

He stared at that last message for a long time, then suddenly realized how ridiculous it was.

I had always been there.

They were the ones who had never truly made room for me. Only after I left was he finally willing to

grant me a place.

Not one of his messages got a response.

On the eighth day, Vanessa came over. Her eyes were swollen as she set the ring on the table.

“Julian, aren’t we the ones who were supposed to end up together?”

“You liked me for years before Nora ever came along.”

Julian looked at the ring.

“So what? She’s gone now.”

Vanessa’s voice trembled.

“We could start over.”

“The five of us could go back to the way things used to be.”

She meant before I came along.

Back then, the five of them had been inseparable. No one had to worry about jealousy, and no one had to make room for an outsider who never quite fit in.

Wasn’t that what they had always wanted?

But all Julian could see was me sitting alone in the corner of a restaurant, me standing behind the camera, and me dragging my suitcase away by myself.

For the first time, he understood that I wasn’t some outsider who had disrupted the five of them

I was the person he had brought into their world himself, the person he had promised to protect for

the rest of his life.

The year we graduated from college, I once asked him, “Your friends don’t seem to like me very

much, do they?”

He pulled me into his arms.

“It doesn’t matter. Wherever I am, you’ll be there too.”

“I’ll make them accept you.”

Seven years later, not only had he failed to bring me into their circle, but he had stood beside them and laughed while I drew blank card after blank card.

A month later, Derek received an email from me that I had sent to all five of them.

There was no blame or accusation, only an itemized list of expenses.

It covered the flights, hotels, yacht, restaurants, and photography costs from the trip.

I listed exactly what each of the five of them owed.

At the bottom, I wrote:

[Please send the amount due to the account below.]

[Once this is settled, we’re even.]

Derek called Julian, clearly annoyed.

“Is Nora seriously doing this? We were friends on a trip together. Does she really have to itemize every penny?”

Julian held the phone tightly.

“Pay her.”

“But hasn’t she always fronted the money whenever we went anywhere?”

“Then go back and figure out what we owe her from before too.”

Derek froze.

They soon discovered that over the years, I had paid up front for almost every trip and meal out.

Sometimes they forgot to pay me back, and I never chased them for it.

So they simply acted as if they didn’t owe me anything.

Over seven years, it had added up to a substantial amount.

Miles couldn’t help saying, “It’s not like Nora’s family is short on money. She doesn’t actually care

about this, does she?”

Julian looked up at him.

“It’s not about the money.”

She just wanted everything settled between herself and the five of them.

There would be no debts left between them and no more contact.

That realization frightened Julian more than all the times I had cried, argued, or demanded

answers.

In the past, I got upset. I got jealous. I chased him for explanations because I still wanted us to work.

‘t even fighting anymore,

anted a clean break.