A Child of Another Story

Sheila's face was all twisted up, and right then, everything seemed totally ridiculous.

"I'm just... Tired."

I left the words hanging there, grabbed the suitcase I had barely set down, and headed for the door without a backward glance.

She yanked my wrist hard and asked with a shrill, "What's your deal? You come back and immediately start flipping out. Erick, when did you get so impossible?!"

I yanked my hand away, feeling the anger I had been holding back start to bubble up.

"Sheila, you're the one making a scene! You text me with 'I miss you', and I bust my butt working night and day to cram five days of work into three, just to rush back to you.

"Since I walked in, have you said one caring thing to me? Do you even remember that today's our fifth anniversary?!"

I was practically shouting by the end, my eyes stinging and scratchy.

However, Sheila just looked lost, like she had no clue it was a special day.

I laughed bitterly. "You forgot our anniversary, huh? So what's the big surprise you planned?"

Sheila stuttered, but she did not have anything to say.

I did not wait for an answer, turning around and walking away.

'What's the point of asking when you know the answer?' I thought.

The door slammed shut behind me, silencing everything.

The noise died down, and my heart just sank.

Sheila did not chase after me.

I stood in the freezing hallway, feeling the cold seep into my bones.

...

I spent the whole night sitting in a hotel room, numb.

When the sun rose, I saw the deep, bloody crescents my nails had carved into my palms.

I grabbed my phone, scrolling through the texts between Sheila and I.

Three years ago, I drained my savings to send her off to art school in Francoria, covering every last penny of her tuition and living expenses.

She clung to me with tears streaming down her face as she said, "Erick, when I'm back, we're tying the knot. You're the only one for me, forever!"

I bought into that promise.

To make sure she had it easy overseas, I juggled three jobs a day, worked myself to the bone until my stomach gave out and I landed in the hospital. Even then, I downplayed it to her on the phone, saying it was just a cold.

Her voice was laced with worry on the call, but Yoel's voice was a faint whisper in the background.

"Sheila, come on. The movie's starting."

She rushed to end the call, promising to ring me later that night.

I waited, watching my phone light up and then fade, but her call never came.

Instead, I saw them together in Yoel's social media feed.

There they were, cozy under the Elfer Tower, beaming with joy.

The caption hit me hard.

[Best friends see the world together.]

It turned out that Yoel was in Francoria too.

Sheila never mentioned it.

Back then, I told myself they were just like family, so there was no need to get jealous.

However, all those little signs I had ignored played back in my head, over and over.

When she came back, we launched our design studio.

I landed a whale of a client, a deal that put us on the map overnight.

On the night of our big bash, I had one too many and wanted her to pick me up.

I called over and over, but got nothing.

Finally, a coworker ended up driving me home.

The morning after, she came to me with puffy, red eyes, spilling the story of how Yoel was heartbroken, how he had drowned his sorrows in booze at the bar, and how she had stayed with him through the night.

"Erick, I'm all he's got. I couldn't just leave him."

My heart ached for her, and I let it slide.

However, I never thought to ask why Yoel's rough night meant she had to stick by his side until dawn, or why her phone had been off the grid.

I shut my eyes, feeling the sting of tears. A moment later, I blinked them open and made a call.

"Hey, Joshua, I need a favor."

Joshua Lawson, my old college buddy, had become a private eye.

"Dig up some dirt for me on Yoel. While you're at it, get the scoop on him and Sheila in Francoria since three years ago, the nitty-gritty, the more the better. Oh, and check if there's any record of Sheila having an abortion at any local hospitals."

I hung up and stared into the harsh daylight, an emptiness settling in my chest.

'Sheila, I’ve given you more chances than I can count. If this is how it is, then all we've got left is the final showdown,' I thought to myself.