Chapter 2

Staring at the email on my phone, I couldn't pull myself back for a long time.

The day my advisor first reached out to me, Victor was with me choosing a wedding dress.

Back then, all I could think about was becoming his wife, and without a second thought I turned the offer down.

I never imagined one car accident would leave everything the same and yet nothing the same.

The car rolled to a stop outside the upscale restaurant on the South Side.

I pushed the door open, and the early-autumn night air hit me.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered.

Before, in a moment like this, Victor would have been the first to reach over and pull me close.

But this time he took off his black coat and draped it, without hesitation, over Crystal's shoulders.

"It's windy out. Don't catch a chill."

He straightened her collar, the motion easy and practiced.

Only after that did he seem to remember I was there too.

"There's a blanket in the trunk. Grab it if you're cold."

I stood there a second, then just answered quietly, "Okay."

We had barely stepped inside.

The owner came over to greet us, warm as ever.

"Mr. James, brought your girlfriend again?"

He glanced at the three of us, then added with a smile,

"But the usual spot only seats two, so I'll pull up an extra chair for you."

"Oh, and the prize from the couples' challenge just came in too."

As he spoke he took a box out from behind the counter.

"Your girlfriend wasn't feeling well that day, and you carried her out in such a hurry you never took it."

Victor visibly stiffened.

He looked at me on instinct and started to speak.

But Crystal gave his sleeve a light tug.

Just that one small motion. She didn't even need to say anything, and every explanation he had was stopped in his throat.

And Victor didn't let go of her hand.

Inside the box was an instant photo and a pair of rings.

In the picture, Victor and Crystal wore the matching rings and made a heart with their fingers.

He'd turned his head to look at her.

The tenderness in his eyes that had once been mine alone was resting on Crystal's face.

Something turned over in my stomach, and before either of them could react I turned and all but fled to the restroom.

Cold water against my face washed away the damp warmth.

I had always thought that once Crystal got her memory back, everything would go back to where it started.

It turned out the only one still standing in that place was me.

I came around the corner and Victor was already there.

He reached out to take my hand, and I pulled away without thinking.

I lifted my eyes to him and finally couldn't hold it in, my voice shaking hard.

"Our wedding. How much longer do we have to wait?"

He was silent a moment, then in the end he said,

"She still needs time to adjust."

That line again.

In one year.

I'd heard it more times than I could count.

And I finally understood.

It wasn't that Crystal needed to adjust to a life without Victor.

It was that Victor had already adjusted to a life with Crystal.

I glanced at that chair squeezed into the corner, so out of place.

Then I lowered my head and looked at the couple's charm on his phone, matching Crystal's.

The joy I'd felt when I first got the checkup report was gone completely.

"Never mind. You two eat. I'm going home to get my things."

The extra one was never that chair.

It was me.