Five People, Four Cups, One Who Walked Away Chapter 03

Five People, Four Cups, One Who Walked Away Chapter 03

Wednesday evening, our landlord came over with the new lease.

She took out five pens and asked us to sign.

Mia didn’t take one.

“I’m only staying temporarily. You don’t need my name on it, do you?”

Cole pushed the lease toward her.

“What do you mean, temporarily? You’ve been here this long. You’re already part of the family.”

Our landlord flipped through the old lease.

“And Ms. Bennett? You’re certain you won’t be renewing the lease on your room?”

Silence fell around the table.

Cole looked at me.

“What do you mean, not renewing?”

I pushed the paperwork toward him.

“It means exactly what it says.”

“Where are you moving?”

“Staff housing.”

Cole stared at me. He seemed to have finally figured out why I’d spent the past few days packing.

But his expression darkened almost immediately.

“Because we didn’t wait for you on Sunday?”

“Nora, you’re really taking it this far?”

Ethan set down his pen, too.

“If there’s a problem, talk about it. Who are you trying to scare by threatening to move out?”

Lily sighed.

“Nor, you really have been a little touchy lately.”

“We live together. Everyone has to put up with things sometimes. Mia’s new here. Of course we have to look out for her a little more.”

I asked her,

“For how long?”

She had no answer.

Mia stood up, her eyes red.

“This is all because of me, isn’t it?”

“I’ll move out right now. Nora, please don’t go.”

She reached for her suitcase, but Ethan stopped her.

“This has nothing to do with you.”

Cole stepped in front of her, too.

“You’re not the one leaving.”

Everyone froze at those words.

Cole probably realized he had gone too far. He turned to explain.

But I smiled.

“Right. I’m the one leaving.”

I picked up a pen and signed my name on the move-out confirmation.

Cole’s face hardened.

“Fine. If you insist on making a scene, go ahead.”

“After a couple of days on your own, with no one to cook for you or wait for you to come home, you’ll come back.”

I didn’t tell him.

For the past three years, I had done most of the cooking.

I had been the one who waited until the very end, too.

Our landlord put the paperwork away. Before leaving, she said she would come by Sunday morning for the inspection.

Mia asked quietly,

“Are we still having our dinner to celebrate the new table on Sunday?”

The new table she had picked out had already arrived.

It came with four chairs.

Cole barely hesitated.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t we?”

Ethan added,

“Nora throwing a tantrum doesn’t mean the rest of us have to put our lives on hold.”

Right in front of me, they discussed what to buy for Sunday’s dinner.

Mia wanted baked cod.

Lily said they should get Mia’s favorite strawberry cake, too.

Finally, Cole looked at me.

“When do you get off work? Come home early and make honey barbecue ribs.”

I looked at him.

“I’m moving on Sunday.”

“Does moving take all day?”

He already sounded impatient.

“You’ve still got to eat, don’t you? Mia just passed her probation at work. We all want to celebrate. Don’t ruin it on purpose.”

So Sunday wasn’t just a dinner to celebrate the new table.

It was a celebration for Mia, too.

And my leaving was just some little thing that could wait.

I nodded.

“Got it.”

They thought I had agreed to come back.

But all I meant was that I understood.

Understood that whatever I did, even the smallest change in Mia’s mood mattered more to them.

That night, Mia posted a menu in the group chat.

She added,

[Nora makes the best ribs! When she’s here, dinner tastes like home.]

Cole replied with a thumbs-up.

Ethan reminded me not to forget to marinate the meat ahead of time.

Lily sent me the shopping list and told me to pick everything up on my way home from work.

No one asked how my packing was going.

No one asked where I was moving, either.

After midnight, I taped my last box shut.

I also took down the picture of the four of us from the wall.

In it, we were squeezed onto one of the little beds at the group home.

Cole had his arm around me. Ethan and Lily made faces behind us.

That year, we said we’d never leave one another behind.

I stared at it for a long time, then laid it facedown on my desk.

My phone lit up.

Mia had sent me a private message.

[Nora, I might be a little late getting home on Sunday.]

[Please make sure everyone waits for me. I don’t want to eat alone again.]

I didn’t reply.

Of course they would wait for her on Sunday.

Whether I came back or not, no one really cared anymore.