Five People, Four Cups, One Who Walked Away Chapter 04

Five People, Four Cups, One Who Walked Away Chapter 04

At eight on Sunday morning, the mover knocked right on time.

He looked at the three cardboard boxes by my feet, then into the empty room.

“That’s everything?”

“Yeah. That’s everything.”

After three years here, everything I was taking with me fit into three boxes.

Cole and the others had gone out early.

Ethan went with Mia to pick up the paperwork confirming her permanent position. Lily went to collect the cake, and Cole drove everyone around.

Before leaving, he opened my bedroom door to remind me,

“The ribs are in the fridge. Remember to marinate them at noon.”

“Mia’s throat hurts. Go easy on the vinegar.”

I was cleaning out a drawer and didn’t turn around.

“Got it.”

Cole seemed pleased with my attitude.

“That’s more like it. Family doesn’t hold grudges.”

As he shut the door, he took the insulated tumbler from the edge of my desk.

“Let Mia borrow this. She forgot her water bottle today.”

It was the gift he had given me for my birthday last year.

A sentence was engraved on the bottom.

[Nora will always have a home.]

I watched him walk away without calling him back.

Half an hour later, the mover started carrying my boxes out.

The bottom box suddenly split open, and a photo album fell out.

Photos scattered across the floor: our pictures from aging out of the group home, the group shot from our first apartment, and pictures of the four of us squeezed into the kitchen for my birthday.

The mover bent down to help collect them.

“You guys seem pretty close.”

I slid the pictures back in, one by one.

“We used to be.”

The last picture had been taken the day we moved in.

Cole held up the keys, Ethan had a broom over his shoulder, and Lily crouched on the floor assembling the dining table.

I stood right in the middle, smiling so hard my eyes were nearly closed.

Cole had written on the back.

[The four of us finally have a place of our own.]

Then Mia came along.

And little by little, “the four of us” started to mean a different four.

At 9:30, our landlord came for the inspection.

She walked around the room, then pointed at the corner.

“Why is this spot empty?”

I looked where she was pointing.

A few faint dents were all that remained where my desk had stood.

She explained,

“That young woman said yesterday that this room gets the best light. She’s planning to turn it into an art studio once you leave.”

I hadn’t even left yet, and my room already belonged to someone else.

Our landlord noticed my expression and looked uncomfortable.

“Your boyfriend didn’t discuss it with you?”

I shook my head.

“There’s no point.”

Drawing boards or clutter, whatever went in there after I left would have nothing to do with me anymore.

After the inspection, our landlord sent my deposit back by bank transfer.

I left my key in the tray by the front door.

A newly unpacked dinnerware set sat beside it.

Four plates, four sets of flatware, and four coasters with names printed on them.

Cole.

Ethan.

Lily.

Mia.

This time, Mia hadn’t bought the wrong number.

Because she’d never planned a place setting for me.

My phone kept vibrating in my pocket.

Lily asked in the group chat,

[Did you get the strawberries?]

Ethan followed with a reminder.

[Remember to thaw the fish ahead of time. Mia hasn’t had much of an appetite lately. Don’t use too much oil.]

Then Cole called.

Mia was coughing in the background.

“Nora, where’s the thermometer?”

“She says she’s dizzy. I’m worried she has a fever.”

I answered,

“Second shelf of the medicine cabinet.”

Cole hung up immediately.

He never once asked how my packing was going.

He didn’t notice the sound of boxes bumping into each other on my end, either.

The mover carried out the last box.

I mopped the floor, locked the windows, and switched off the bedroom light.

Just as the door closed, Cole called again.

“Nora, did you chop the garlic yet?”

“We’ll be back once we pick Mia up. She’s not feeling well today. Don’t give her an attitude over this whole moving thing.”

I pressed the elevator button.

“Cole.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I had already said what I really wanted to say too many times.

Saying it again would only make it seem like I was still waiting for him to understand.

The elevator doors slid open slowly.

Cole rushed to get off the phone.

“Got to go. Mia’s coming out.”

Once again, he hung up.

I wheeled my suitcase out of the building.

The morning sun was so bright I could barely keep my eyes open.

The moving truck waited at the curb. The mover opened the passenger door for me.

As soon as I sat down, dozens of new messages appeared in the group chat.

Mia said she felt a little cold.

Lily told her to stay inside her office building.

Ethan took off his jacket and said he would put it around her when they arrived.

Cole shared his location.

[Three minutes away.]

[Mia, don’t worry. We’re all coming to get you.]

As the truck pulled away, a familiar white car turned out of the apartment complex.

Cole was behind the wheel.

Ethan held his jacket. Lily carefully held the cake she’d just picked up.

All three looked anxious as they hurried to pick Mia up.

Their car passed the moving truck.

Not one of them looked our way.

I left the five-person group chat, removed the SIM card for my old number, and snapped it in half.

Outside the window, the building I had lived in for three years grew smaller and smaller.

I didn’t look back.