I Got Laid Off And They Celebrated Her Promotion Chapter 08

They waited outside my office building for three days.

On the first day, I left through the underground garage and avoided the front entrance.

On the second, the receptionist told me they were still outside.

I stayed in the conference room, finished revising the last report, and only then left for the day

On the third afternoon, Emma came over to my desk.

“Are you going to keep avoiding them?”

“They’ll leave eventually.”

“They’ve already been here three days.”

I closed my laptop.

“Then I’ll see them.”

When I came out of the building, all four stood by the road.

Luke spotted me and immediately stepped forward.

“Hannah.”

I stopped.

“What do you want?”

Sophie looked at me, exhaustion in her eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Her voice dropped after she said it.

“I’deleted the files on your laptop. I was only thinking about my presentation. I didn’t realize you

needed them the next day. I found out later you’d already bought a plane ticket.”

“I know what happened.”

“I don’t expect one apology to make you forgive me.”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

She opened her mouth but couldn’t answer.

Charlie came over.

“I owe you an apology, too. Whenever we went somewhere, I thought about Sophie’s carsickness

and saved her the front seat. That time we left you at the mall, I even complained that your we taking too long.”

Noah said quietly, “I kept making jokes about how sensitive you were. When you stopped speaking

up, I thought you’d finally let things go.”

They were talking about little things.

But those little things had made me feel more and more like someone they could leave behind

whenever they wanted.

Only later did they understand that the worst part was often not being forgotten once, but being told

afterward, “You should understand.”

Luke stood behind them.

“I got used to you always being understanding. You were always there, so I thought you’d keep

being there.”

“That’s why you always made me wait.”

“I know.”

“You know now.”

I looked at him.

“But I don’t want to come back.”

Luke’s face tightened.

“Hannah, after seven years together, is there really no chance for us?”

“We didn’t end because of one thing.”

“I can change.”

“Whether you change is up to you.”

I turned to Sophie.

“The same goes for you. You don’t have to keep calling yourself a terrible person. I don’t want to go

back to the way things were.”

Tears ran down Sophie’s face.

“Are we still friends?”

“I don’t know.”

She looked up at me.

“Could we be again someday?”

“Not now.”

My voice was calm.

“I made myself clear when I left. You’re here today because you finally realized I was really gone, not because you never heard how hurt I was before.”

Luke took a step toward me.

“I want us to start over.”

“I don’t.”

He stopped.

I checked the time.

“Don’t come to my office again. This job is where I got a fresh start. I don’t want it to become another place where I have to hide from you.”

They stood by the road as I turned and walked back into the building.

This time, I didn’t look back.