Chapter 41 : A Night Out

*Grace*

I had anticipated his call, my heart fluttering erratically every time my phone chimed. But David's voice never came through the other end, leaving me to ponder in an unsettling silence. Had our night together been a goodbye for us? Or was he simply too consumed by his busy life, unable to find a moment to reach out to me?

That had never happened before, David had always found the time to call me, but what did I know? Maybe he was too busy.

Or maybe I was just trying to find excuses for his disappearance.

Doubt gnawed at me, clouding my thoughts and dampening my spirits.

Determined to shake off the cloud of uncertainty that loomed over me, I threw myself back into work with a fervor that left my colleagues wide-eyed. My extended absence had left a conspicuous void, but thankfully my boss hadn't taken any drastic actions and fired me.

"Grace, you've been working nonstop," Maria, one of my co-workers, remarked as she entered my office that morning, concern etched onto h