Five Plates, Four Sets Of Cutlery, Zero For Me Chapter 09

Five Plates, Four Sets Of Cutlery, Zero For Me Chapter 09

Later, I heard that the four of them had moved out of the apartment one after another.

Every now and then, I still received a message from one of them.

Around the holidays, my brother would send: [Happy holidays. Take care of yourself.]

Sadie sometimes sent me pictures of her new designs with the message: [Nat, I’m working hard to learn from you.]

Evan never brought up getting back together again. He only asked once in a while: [How have you been?]

Sometimes I replied.

When I got busy, I forgot.

The day Dylan came to New York on a business trip, he asked me to dinner.

I went.

He was a little more tan than the last time I’d seen him, and he still remembered that I liked shrimp paste when he ordered.

We ate for a long time. Neither of us was in a hurry to leave.

Toward the end of the meal, he set down his fork.

“Nat, I’ve wanted to apologize to you for a long time.”

“Why bring it up now?”

He looked at me sincerely.

“We were wrong. We always assumed you wouldn’t hold anything against us, so we stopped taking you into account altogether.”

“The more understanding you were, the more we took you for granted.”

He paused.

“Especially the design incident. I told you your company wouldn’t miss one design. Looking back, that was a terrible thing to say.”

I gave him a small smile.

“It’s in the past. Let it go.”

He seemed about to say something else, but in the end, he only nodded and lifted his glass.

“Then… here’s to you.”

I raised my glass and tapped it against his.

The glasses made a clear little chime.

“Here’s to you.”

My project in New York went smoothly.

The following spring, I was promoted.

That night, my Instagram was buzzing.

There were dozens of comments beneath the photo of me celebrating my promotion.

Owen: [Congrats, Nat! You’ve always been the one with the brightest future.]

Sadie: [You’re amazing, Nat!]

Dylan: [Look at you, Director. Don’t forget us when you’re rich.]

Evan: [I’m happy for you, Nat.]

After reading them, I replied: [Thanks, everyone.]

I meant it.

Some time later, my brother sent me a message.

[Nat, we talked it over and want to start a new group chat. Would you be willing to come back?]

I stared at the message for a long time.

I typed a single word, then deleted it.

Finally, I typed the whole answer and sent it.

[No.]

A long while later, he replied:

[Okay. Take care of yourself.]

I set down my phone.

A row of different plants lined my office windowsill.

When a breeze came through, their leaves swayed gently.

Sunlight warmed my face.

I remembered how, long ago, I’d wished for a corner that belonged only to me.

Now I had one.