Chapter 3

It took half an hour before I finally managed to grab a ride.

Back at the office, my coworkers crowded around me, buzzing with questions.

"Carissa, isn't your wedding next month?"

"I just saw your name on the overseas transfer list, of all places."

"What's going on? You'd give up the wedding, put a whole ocean between you and your husband?"

"Or is our little workaholic so set on this posting she'd trade in her husband for it?"

I gave a small smile.

"There's no wedding anymore."

That only made them more curious, but seeing I'd already gone back to work, they had the sense not to press.

After work, Dirk texted me.

"Let's grab dinner together."

I was about to say I couldn't, that I'd already made plans to get barbecue with coworkers.

With the transfer next month, chances to see them were only getting rarer.

Then Dirk added another line.

"Don't be difficult. Your best friend's coming too."

"You can play the hands-off act other times, but not today."

"We're going over the specific details for the wedding day. You're the bride, so of course you should hear them."

Staring at those lines, more than once I nearly gave in to the urge to lay it all out.

To tell him I wasn't getting married.

But I couldn't say it. If I came clean now, the trouble and hassle I'd have to deal with would be so much worse.

Better to wait until the very end.

The place they'd picked for dinner was a barbecue joint.

Dirk and Katherine moved through it like regulars, and the owner even came over smiling to greet them. It looked like they'd been here plenty of times. They were regulars.

When I arrived, the two of them were sharing one ice cream.

Catching my eye, Katherine quickly pushed the ice cream away. "Carissa, don't get the wrong idea."

"Dirk said the ice cream was too cold and he couldn't finish it, so I only had a taste."

"I'm not getting any idea."

I sat down, calm and unbothered. "We've been friends since we were kids. Why would something this small ever make me think anything?"

I watched the shrimp Dirk was peeling in his hands.

Counting silently in my head. Three, two, one.

Sure enough, just as I'd guessed.

Out of habit, Dirk set the peeled shrimp into my best friend's bowl.

Seeing me sit there silent, Katherine realized how it looked and elbowed Dirk.

"What are you doing? Your girlfriend's right here. Shouldn't the peeled shrimp go in your girlfriend's bowl?"

So Dirk froze mid-air with the shrimp in his hand.

Then took a little detour and set it in my bowl instead.

"Sorry, force of habit. Back when you were working late, the two of us were starving, so we came here to eat a lot."

"Katherine can't be bothered to peel shrimp, doesn't want to get her hands dirty, so I always do it for her."

I gripped my chopsticks, and it felt like a thousand ants crawling under my skin.

No wonder they were on such good terms with the owner.

While I was killing myself with overtime for the sake of our bright future, staying late at the office, not even getting a dinner,

the two of them were coming here to eat together.

They always said I was busy with work.

And little by little it just became the default, no more inviting me to anything.

Trips that used to be the three of us slowly, quietly, turned into the assumed two of them.

"Our Carissa's a busy woman, run off her feet every single day. We'll show you the photos when we're back from the trip."

"Trip?"

I looked up, caught off guard. "What trip?"

They said they'd already picked the spot for the honeymoon after the wedding.

They just weren't sure what it was actually like there, so they needed to scout it in person.

So they'd bought two tickets.

I looked at them. "So this time, again, I don't need to come?"

The air went quiet for a few seconds.

My best friend scratched her head and laughed. "It's just, we didn't want to disrupt your work, that's all."

"Dirk said you've been fighting for some rare job spot lately, so you must be swamped."

I didn't cave the way I used to, going along with her words just to smooth over the mood.

"Actually, no, I'm not that busy."

"I took wedding leave, the boss knows. I happen to have time these next few days."

"You've even locked in the honeymoon venue, so why is it that I, the bride, don't know a thing about it?"

They both froze, something like surprise on their faces.

Maybe they hadn't expected me, always the one who couldn't get away, to say something like that.

Seeing how awkward it had gotten, Katherine quickly pulled out her phone.

"Carissa, if you're unhappy about it, we can buy an extra ticket right now."

"Then the three of us can all go together—"

Dirk frowned too.

Watching Katherine scroll and scroll, her face getting worse and worse, about to cry.

Finally he couldn't hold back.

"There are no tickets left, Carissa. Don't tag along just to be part of it."

"Besides, this time we're only going to scout it out, it's not the honeymoon. Wouldn't it be better to save the surprise for after the wedding?"