He Forgot My Birthday for Her Anniversary Again Chapter 05
That apartment held five years of memories.
It saw us fresh out of college, clumsy and broke. Saw us tired and grinding through the working world. Saw every laugh, every fight, every quiet night.
Brady wanted to freeze all that in place. Buy the apartment. Make it ours forever.
When he first brought it up, I was still hopeful about our future.
Now I felt nothing but dead calm.
I didn’t reply to his message.
At the new apartment-Oakwood Apartments-I hired a cleaner, then went to the grocery store.
Cooked myself another full meal.
Bought the ice cream cake I’d missed on my birthday.
The first bite was cold, sweet, instantly melting on my tongue.
I smiled without meaning to.
So that’s what it tasted like.
No wonder Brady had scraped off all the ice cream and fruit for Skyler that night.
I took a picture, posted it on social.
Caption: [Happy birthday to me. Another year. Be safe. Be free.]
Friends, family, coworkers liked and commented. All the same message: Happy birthday.
I thanked them one by one.
Then I saw a familiar profile picture. My thumb stopped.
Brady had never commented on my posts before.
“Paige, what is your problem? Where are you? I’m coming to find you. We need to talk face to face.”
His words stuck out like a bruise on a clean wrist.
I deleted the comment.
He sent voice messages.
“Paige, stop this. Whatever you’re upset about, say it to my face. Don’t just disappear.”
“If you don’t answer me, I’m going to get mad.”
I almost laughed.
I’d told him, over and over, what I needed.
I wanted his unconditional preference.
I wanted to be the only one he saw.
I wanted distance between him and Skyler.
He couldn’t do any of it.
Or maybe he just never took me seriously.
I didn’t respond. I deleted his contact. Blocked him everywhere.
Then my mom texted.
[Your birthday was three days ago. Why post today?]
[And you didn’t put Brady in the picture. Did you break up?]