Chapter 3

"Did you sleep at all last night? Your dark circles are terrible."

Harper pushed a cup of coffee toward me, staring at my face.

"I'm fine. Just some insomnia lately."

She didn't pry. Instead, she started complaining about how her husband stuffed too many clothes into the washing machine yesterday, causing the door to pop open and blast soapy water all over her face.

I listened and managed a small laugh.

My phone buzzed inside my bag. I didn't check it.

Harper stopped mid-sentence.

"Aren't you going to check that? What if it's Leo?"

"He's at work. He doesn't call at this hour."

"Oh," she said, continuing her story.

As I took a sip of my coffee, I glanced down at my screen.

It wasn't Leo.

It was a text from an unknown number:

Liz, I am so sorry about yesterday. I really don't want to come between you and Mr. Osman. — Sammy

How did she get my number?

The question bounced around my head twice before the obvious answer hit me.

Either Leo gave it to her, or she took it from his phone.

Either way, it meant they were much closer than he was letting on.

I deleted the text.

After parting ways with Harper, I went back to my office.

At three in the afternoon, Leo sent a WhatsApp message: I'm coming home early tonight. I'll make dinner.

I replied with a simple, Okay.

When I got home, there were four dishes on the table and a bouquet of pink carnations sitting in a vase in the entryway.

Leo popped his head out of the kitchen, wearing an apron. "Try the grilled salmon. You said you wanted it last week."

I sat down and took a bite. It tasted good.

He watched me eat from across the table, his eyes filled with a cautious anxiety.

"Liz, about yesterday... I had a bad attitude. I shouldn't have said you were making a scene."

"Okay."

"In the future, if something's bothering you, just tell me. Don't turn off your phone. I worry when I can't reach you."

"Sure."

He let out a sigh of relief. It was a fleeting expression, but I caught it.

He wasn't relieved because he had made things right with me. He was relieved because he thought this chapter was closed.

After dinner, he went to do the dishes. I sat on the couch and picked up his car keys.

I didn't have a specific plan; it was just an instinctive reaction.

But then I remembered something.

Last weekend, he said he took the car to the car wash. When he came back, the passenger seat's position had changed.

I’m 5'7". The seat was adjusted for someone around 5'3".

I hadn't thought much of it then. Now, I did.

I put the keys back.

Leo walked out of the kitchen, wiping his hands, and saw me spacing out.

"What are you thinking about?"

"When you got the car washed last week, did the detailers adjust the passenger seat?"

His hands paused mid-wipe.

"Probably. They have to clean the interior, so they move things around."

"Oh."

I nodded and dropped the subject.

He walked over, sat next to me, and put his arm around my shoulder.

I didn't pull away, but I didn't lean into him either.

His hand on my shoulder felt incredibly light.

In the past, when he held me, he would pull me tightly into his chest.

Now, this touch felt like he was merely trying to pacify a difficult client.

Later that night, he went to take a shower first. I picked up his phone from the couch. It wasn't locked.

He had never set a passcode on his phone, from the day we started dating until now.

I used to think it was a sign of trust. Now, I wasn't so sure.

The first pinned chat on his WhatsApp was me, the second was his mom, and the third was a work group.

I scrolled through his chats. There was no thread with Sammy.

He had deleted it.

The sound of the shower stopped. I put the phone back exactly where it was.

He stepped out, his hair still wet, and glanced at me. "Aren't you going to shower?"

"Going now."

I stood up. As I passed him, the scent of the sandalwood body wash I bought him washed over me.

Squeaky clean. No traces of anything else.

But I knew that deleted chats, just like washed-off jasmine perfume, didn't mean they never existed.

He just didn't want me to see them.