Chapter 6: Out in the Cold

When Derek finished, the whole room fell silent.

All our friends looked at me, awkward and embarrassed.

I looked up at Derek, and for a moment, it was as if the man I’d spent eight years with was a complete stranger.

When I glanced over, Aubrey shrank behind him like a frightened little rabbit.

Derek frowned and shielded her.

"Natalie, this isn’t the office. Don’t bring your bossy attitude here."

Heh.

I let out a short, cold laugh.

I put down my glass, grabbed my coat from the back of the chair. "I’ve already paid. You all enjoy."

"I’m leaving."

As I brushed past them, I caught Derek giving me a complicated look.

While I waited for my Uber outside, my phone rang.

"Natalie, you’re a rational person."

"I hope what happened between us won’t affect Aubrey’s work."

"Don’t make things hard for her at the office."

As my ride pulled up, I put my phone away, my face expressionless.

The cool night air bit at my cheeks as I waited on the curb, arms wrapped around myself, watching headlights blur into streaks. I barely registered Derek’s voice on the phone—just another demand masked as concern. As my Uber idled by, I climbed in and stared out the window, the city’s neon lights reflecting off the glass. I wanted to scream or cry or break something, but all I could muster was numbness, the sort that settles in your bones and refuses to leave.