Chapter 10: The New Routine

I started dating Harrison Whitaker step by step.

It was always comfortable with him.

He was careful, proper.

Every detail was arranged perfectly.

But how to put it—

Like a machine that only needed commands.

He seemed to have no emotions at all.

That night he came to pick me up for dinner.

During the meal, his phone rang several times.

Then, I clearly felt he was a bit absent-minded.

"Is something wrong?"

Harrison poured me a glass of juice.

When he looked up at me, his gaze was still gentle. "Just some trivial matters."

"If you have something to handle, don’t mind me."

He hesitated a moment, then said, "I’ll go out and make a call."

I nodded, and he took his phone and cigarette case outside.

But he didn’t come back for half an hour.

I was a bit bored.

Suddenly someone tagged me in the friends group chat.

"Mariah, what have you been busy with lately?"

"Yeah Mariah, why haven’t you come to the last few gatherings?"

"Wasn’t it your birthday recently? Why didn’t you invite us for a meal?"

The group joked and laughed, emojis flying—😂, 🙄, 🍻.

I thought for a bit, then replied one by one.

"Been a bit busy lately."

"Sorry, my oversight, I’ll treat you all another day."

"Don’t wait, come now, at our usual spot, hurry over."

Someone tagged Ethan: "Ethan, go pick Mariah up."

After a while, Ethan replied: "Busy."

Soon after: "She has hands and feet, can’t she walk herself?"

The group went quiet for a moment.

I gripped my phone, staring at those two lines on the screen.

Until Harrison came back from his call, I snapped out of it.

Quickly replied: "Got something today, another day I’ll treat."

I exited the group chat and locked the screen.

Harrison looked at me apologetically. "Sorry Mariah, work took a bit too long."

I shook my head. "It’s fine."

Harrison didn’t say more, asked if I was done eating.

I nodded, and he offered to drive me home.

Getting in the car, I was a bit dazed, lost my balance.

Harrison reached out to help me just in time.

That was our first physical contact since knowing each other.

I came to my senses and instinctively pulled away.

And Harrison also quickly withdrew his hand.

On the way back, we didn’t speak again.

After dropping me off, Harrison left in a hurry for the first time.

I stood outside, still under that same porch.

Still just my lonely shadow.

The early summer night breeze was still a bit chilly.

I couldn’t help but hug myself lightly.

The phone rang for a while before I answered.

A familiar friend’s voice: "Mariah, where are you now?"

"Can you come over?"

"Ethan drank too much, complaining his stomach hurts."

"Got him medicine, but he keeps saying it’s not the brand he used before."

"Do you remember which brand he used?"

I was silent, didn’t reply.

Just quietly hung up in the midst of the noise.

I didn’t want any more entanglements with Ethan.

Besides, he had Savannah in his heart, and a new girl by his side.

Cutting the last thread, out of place.

The phone rang again.

I muted it and went inside.

I let the quiet of my house settle around me, choosing the comfort of solitude over old habits.