~Matt~The next day, as I prepared myself for the office. Neeral approached me with a bright smile, holding a cup of coffee. “Matt, here’s your coffee, just the way you like it.”But her lie lingered in my heart, poisoning any joy I might have found in her gesture. “I don’t need it, thanks,” I replied coldly, brushing past her before driving off to the office.I kept myself occupied with work, trying to push aside the turmoil within me. Suddenly, I noticed someone placing a brown bag on my desk. I looked up and saw Neeral standing next to me.“I brought lunch for us,” she said, her voice filled with hope.I rolled my eyes and walked out without a word. “I don’t want it.” She looked so hurt, and I knew I was being rude to her, but I couldn’t comprehend what was happening to me. She had lied, and I couldn’t stomach the fact.When I returned home from the office, I immersed myself in a soccer match, losing track of time. But as the clock struck eleven, reality hit me. She still hadn’t c
~Matt~We hadn’t realized when the morning had turned into noon. Last night, we had a wonderful movie marathon and ended up watching three films. It was hard to believe, but we did it.As I looked beside me, I saw Neeral sleeping peacefully. I couldn’t help but wonder how she had become my friend. Lost in my thoughts, I gazed at her until her eyes fluttered open. Startled, she jumped, clearly taken aback.“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, a hint of fear in her voice.“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just woke up.” I chuckled. She sat up, wiping the drool from her mouth and checking her pillow, which had a wet spot. “Don’t look at me like this. I know I drooled like a kid.”“Not just drooling. You snore, too,” I teased, raising an eyebrow.“Seriously? I need to lose weight then.” A new stress line formed on her face. I couldn’t help but laugh, easily fooling her. “I’m kidding. But you sleep like a baby, calm and with a smile on your face.”I got up and fixed mysel
~Matt~I arrived at the office and noticed that Neeral was busy with the new interns. As I walked down the hallway, Taylor called out to meet me.“Matt why are you late?” he questioned, a hint of confusion in his voice.“I called Neeral to inform you,” I replied, still trying to make sense of the situation.We paused in the hallway, peering through the glass walls into the room where Neeral was occupied.“My car needed servicing, so I got stuck. She didn’t inform you?” I asked, observing Taylor’s gaze fixed on her.“Yeah, it’s okay. Maybe she forgot. After all, it’s her birthday,” Taylor let slip, quickly closing his mouth.“What? It’s her birthday? She didn’t tell me,” I exclaimed, a touch of disappointment in my voice. She should have shared such an important detail with me. Taylor rolled his eyes in response.“She didn’t want to celebrate. Please don’t mention that I spilled the beans in front of you. I asked her out, but she seemed lost,” Taylor explained with a sigh.“Well, I have
~Neeral~He took hold of my hand, and we walked out together. Taylor stood there, holding the cake for me. I cut the cake while everyone sang a birthday song. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so special.Although I saw them every day, there was something different in the air that night. My pain seemed to fade away when I looked at Matt. He was genuinely enjoying himself with me, and I was thrilled he had orchestrated this surprise.After everyone left, we surveyed the aftermath. Dirty disposable plates and glasses were strewn across the house. I grabbed a trash bag and began collecting the remnants.“Wait, wait, wait.” Matt grabbed my hand, stopping me in my tracks. “What? We need to clean this mess.” “Oh, we will. First, I need to talk to you.” He guided me to the couch, and we sat down together. “Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?” “You didn’t ask,” I smiled mischievously, unraveling his crossed arms.“But you told Taylor.” I chuckled, brushing off his remar
“Matt!” I screamed, desperation and fear filling my voice.Suddenly, someone forcibly pulled him away from me, and all I could hear was Victor’s agonized scream before I heard his feet on the floor as he rushed out of the house. Matt came barging back into the room, and as my senses slowly returned, I scrambled to cover my nakedness.Shivering and bleeding from my lips, I looked up at Matt, hoping for his protection and salvation. He scratched my face and body, leaving visible marks of his assault, and all I wanted was to be safe in Matt’s arms. “Hey, are you okay?” Matt’s voice trembled with concern as he hurried to my side. He grabbed a bedsheet and gently wrapped it around me, shielding me from the world’s harshness. Tears streamed down my face, and I couldn’t help but feel disgusted when I looked at myself.“It’s all my fault... I am worthless,” I whimpered, my voice filled with self-loathing.Matt’s eyes widened with disbelief, and he reached out to touch my trembling shoulder.
~Neeral~It had been two weeks since that horrible incident happened to me, and a strange feeling of suffocation took hold of my heart. I thought I could survive as Matt’s friend, but the closer we got, the more I felt myself drowning in pain. I couldn’t see myself as just his friend anymore. This realization reached its peak when he referred to me as his close friend in front of his family.Last weekend, we went to meet his parents. They welcomed me with open arms. It felt nice because I missed my mom so much. Matt told them about Aoife and Xander, and it surprised his parents to hear about those incidents. They were happy that I stood by Matt’s side, but I cursed myself for creating so much pain for myself. I was foolish to let him enter my heart, and now it was enough. I needed to move on.I created profiles on dating apps, hoping to find someone who would help me forget about Matt. However, my bad luck struck again when he saw an email notification from a dating app on my laptop.“
~Neeral~After my heartfelt conversation with Taylor, I returned home. He had expressed his love for me with such joy, but Matt’s reaction to my proposal left me astounded. Why did he act like such a jerk? He had never seen me as anything more than a friend, so why did it seem like he was unhappy?With a stack of files in my hands, I struggled to open the door to my house. It was already 8 o’clock, and Matt wasn’t home. I called him, but he didn’t answer. I sent him a message, and I saw the three dots indicating that he was typing, but no reply came.Feeling a mix of worry and frustration, I decided to take a quick shower, prepare dinner, and keep myself busy with work. I waited for him at the dinner table for a long time, but he never showed up.My eyes wandered to the ring Taylor had given me. It was beautiful, and it brought a faint smile to my face. Perhaps one day, I would be able to love Taylor as deeply as I had loved Matt.Lost in my thoughts, my phone chimed. It was Taylor on
~Matt~Mending a broken heart felt like an impossible task, akin to building a sandcastle in a perpetually wet place. No matter how hard I tried, a wave would inevitably crash upon me, obliterating everything I had painstakingly constructed. How foolish was I to find myself in the same situation again?I had developed a special connection with Neeral, only to witness her accepting Taylor’s ring. Falling in love once more required effort, but I failed to nurture it. Our story seemed to leap to its climax before it even had a chance to begin.When Taylor proposed to her, I struggled to understand how I should react. Should I direct my anger toward him or at myself? I didn’t dare express my feelings to her, and she didn’t wait for me either. We shared a bond, but my confusion persisted. Was it friendship or something more? An unsettling fear crawled beneath my skin.What if I told her how I felt, and she left me like Aoife did? What if I asked her to wait, allowing me to discern if my em