“How did you know I’m Madeline?” I asked, a bit puzzled since I had graduated a year or two ago.
“Madeline, who at the design institute doesn’t know you? I actually met you in person!” the girl said excitedly, hugging me directly.
The hug was warm and comforting.
“My name is Lily Turner. I’m a big fan of yours,” she said with a bright smile.
She was a cute little schoolgirl. We wandered around the campus for a while, chatting about the changes and our design dreams.
When I got home, Zachary still wasn’t back. He usually doesn’t stay away all day. I made a simple dinner, leaving out his portion, thinking he wouldn’t return. Emma had just added me to her contacts and sent me photos of them hanging out, with Zachary passed out on the sofa.
“How about letting Zachary hang out with us for the night; you don’t mind, do you?”
That night, Zachary didn’t come home. The next day, when he finally did return, everything seemed normal, but he started going out more often.
By the third night of his absence, I couldn’t hold back any longer and asked him what was going on. Zachary looked taken aback and a bit annoyed. “Is it really a problem that I go out with friends? Can’t you stop clinging to me all the time? Don’t you have your own friends?”
He slammed the door behind him and left, leaving me standing there, stunned.
Over the years, I’d come to rely on Zachary as my everything, thinking that having him was enough. The promises he made—“Madeline, I’ll protect you and always be with you”—now seemed like distant echoes lost in the void of the future.
This week, Zachary hadn’t been home much. Maybe he’s just enjoying some long-overdue time with his friends. I can give him space, I suppose. From Emma’s Instagram, it looks like they’ve been traveling abroad lately. I sent him a few messages, but he didn’t reply.
Our relationship might be nearing its end, but it just hadn’t been officially confirmed yet. My birthday and our fifth anniversary are coming up soon. We used to have this tradition of watching the sunrise together every year. For the first four years, we managed to catch it, but this year, neither the sun nor Zachary showed up.
Emma sent me a few messages with photos of Zachary: him sleeping next to her in his bare arms, taking selfies at tourist spots, and even kissing under the aurora...