During a game of Truth or Dare at a gathering with friends, my girlfriend, Bridget Ellison, loses. Her punishment is to buy coffee for everyone.

Half an hour later, she returns carrying more than a dozen bags and starts handing out drinks with a smile.

"Francis, you've been pulling all-nighters for two days straight. Here's your iced long black."

"Daryl, you like java chip frappe with extra mocha sauce, right?"

"And here's yours. Lemon black tea, no ice. You've ordered it hundreds of times."

One by one, everyone gets their drink.

By the time she reaches me, only an empty bag remains. Everyone at the table freezes.

"Where's Aiden's drink?"

She pushes her peach frappe toward me and says, "I forgot. He can just share mine."

A friend immediately groans and complains, "It's the same every gathering. If you two want to show off how loving you are, can you at least come up with a new routine?"

Everyone around us laughs and teases us, but I can't bring myself to even take a sip of the drink.

I'm the only one who knows the truth. The display of affection is an act. In reality, she has truly forgotten to buy me a drink.

After four years together, Bridget still can't remember that I'm allergic to peaches.

I set the peach frappe back on the table.

I've spent four years settling for less. Now, it's time for me to leave.

Aiden's POV

Daryl Watkins inserted the straw into his drink, took a couple of sips, and his eyes lit up at once.

"Oh my, you actually remembered! You remembered that I said I liked extra mocha sauce in my java chip frappe! You're the best, Bridget!"

Bridget Ellison casually replied, "When have I ever forgotten anything you said?"

The other people in the room also agreed loudly with her. "Alright, we all know that you remember every single thing about us!"

"Yeah, and since you're dating, I bet you never forget a single birthday or anniversary either!"

Bridget turned to me and grinned widely. I just continued sipping on my bottle of water, keeping my eyes down without responding to her.

"Why aren't you drinking the frappe?" she asked, inserting the straw into the peach frappe and taking a few sips before placing it into my hands.

"Here, I've already tried it. It's not too cold or too sweet. It won't give you a tummy ache."

The few guys sitting across from us began clicking their tongues, looking at us with faux disgusted looks on their faces like they couldn't bear to watch us being lovey-dovey with each other.

I just gripped the peach frappe tighter, staring at the ice floating in the plastic cup.

Daryl leaned over just then and said, "Bridget? I've never tried that drink before. Can I try it?"

"Go ahead."

After her reply, the drink in my hands was suddenly gone. She had taken it straight out of my hands and handed it over to Daryl.

However, he didn't take the drink from her. Instead, he just lowered his head and sipped straight from the straw, taking a few massive gulps until half the cup of contents was gone.

"Oh, damn. I didn't mean to finish everything. My bad, Aiden. I forgot to leave you more. Why don't you take my drink instead?"

He then slid his half-empty java chip frappe toward me. I just shook my head and said, "It's fine."

"Just take it and drink it," he said. "I promise I'm not contagious."

His voice was loud and clear, and he suddenly saluted at me for some reason.

Everyone else in the room exchanged glances and tried not to laugh out loud, but I didn't. A short while after that, everyone else burst out into loud, deafening laughter.

Bridget chuckled and shook her head in a helpless manner while Daryl was doubled over with laughter.

I couldn't remember how many times I'd attended gatherings with Bridget's friends like this. However, I still didn't know what they kept laughing about.

Eventually, the laughter died down. Some of them glanced at me before quickly looking away. Bridget's face turned dark.

"Daryl has already apologized to you. What else do you want from him?"

I stared at her frown, wanting to say that I just didn't get their inside joke. However, she grabbed the java chip frappe and handed it to Daryl, along with the peach frappe.

"He doesn't want them, so they're both yours, Daryl."

She then turned to me with an impatient frown and said, "It's just a damn coffee, Aiden Rosario. Quit making my friends uncomfortable just because of that. It's not like he did it on purpose anyway."

Daryl added quietly, "No, it's okay. It's all my fault anyway." He then took both drinks and slinked back to his seat with his head down.

The atmosphere was tense for a couple of seconds. Then, someone else spoke up and said, "Alright, let's play a game!"

However, Bridget didn't seem interested anymore and just sat to the side while scrolling mindlessly on her phone.

We'd been dating for four years.

Bridget remembered that Daryl liked extra mocha sauce in his java chip frappe. She remembered that her other friends had spent countless sleepless nights.

However, she couldn't remember that I was deathly allergic to peaches.

If I really took a sip of that peach frappe earlier, I would have already passed out from asphyxiation by now. But she would probably just think that it was a separate occasion, or maybe that I had bad luck, or that I was simply sick to begin with.

Aiden's POV

Bridget didn't say anything. Daryl kept his head down the whole time too, and the tension kept rising in the private room.

My phone rang just then. While making my way out to the washroom to answer it, I heard the people in the room whispering to each other.

The moment I stepped out and closed the door behind me, the tension inside the room melted away, and they began getting rowdy and excited once again.

"Alright, let's play blackjack poker this time! Daryl, you start first. Everyone, get into your own groups!"

Daryl then asked quietly, "Bridget? Have you taken your cards yet?"

"Yeah, hurry up. It's your turn."

I leaned against the door for a bit, trying to swallow the bitterness rising in my throat.

On the phone was the HR manager, Sarah Singleton, and she was repeating her question to me.

"Are you sure that you want to resign? But weren't you in line for the internal promotion to department manager next month?"

I shut my eyes and listened to the loud cheering in the room, congratulating Daryl and Bridget for winning the round, and sighed.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Sarah thought that it was a huge pity, but she still went through the relevant steps and procedures with me for the handover process.

When I finally walked out of the bathroom and returned to the room, I realized that it was all empty.

A waiter was clearing up the mess left behind. He was also very surprised to see me.

"Sir? Didn't you come with these people earlier? Ms. Ellison said that they were going to the beach nearby for a barbecue supper. They've already paid up and left."

I slowly unclenched my fists and sighed softly.

Bridget had forgotten about me again.

…

Since it was so late at night, I stood by the roadside, waiting for a long time before an Uber was willing to come and pick me up.

When I arrived home, Bridget suddenly called me. As soon as I answered the call, her loud, angry voice cut through the silence.

"Why the hell didn't you get into the car? Are you seriously throwing a huge fit like this just because Daryl drank a few sips of the peach frappe? Didn't you know that I was looking everywhere for you?"

I changed out of my shoes into my indoor slippers and replied calmly, "I was still in the washroom on a phone call earlier when you all left without me."

There were a few seconds of silence on the phone. When Bridget spoke again, her voice still sounded tight and angry.

"What the hell was that phone call for? Why did you take such a damn long time anyway?"

So, she still thought it was my fault.

A short pause later, she continued and said, "We're staying out here at the beach until sunrise. Just make do and get an Uber home by yourself."

Then, she hung up on me without even waiting for my reply.

I stared blankly at my phone screen wallpaper of me and her in our graduation gowns, posing for the photo.

She never let me "make do" while she was still pursuing me in college. When we ate together, it had to be at a place that I liked. When we went shopping together, she had to buy me clothes that suited me.

She also made sure to plan for my birthday at least two months in advance.

Bridget was the top student in the entire college, and she was also known for her extremely good memory.

If I just mentioned briefly that I like corn cheese burritos for breakfast, she would immediately buy it for my breakfast the next day.

If I randomly brought up that I felt like some Diet Coke but forgot about it later, she would buy me a bottle and even untwist the cap for me before handing it over while wiping off the sweat on her face, saying that she got me a bottle that was room temperature and wouldn't hurt my stomach.

I used to have some stomach issues in the past and couldn't take any cold drinks then, and she remembered it.

When graduating from college, I said that our rented graduation gowns looked very nice, so she bought a replica straightaway and said that we could wear them again when we had our wedding photos taken next time.

However, just last month, she found the gowns in a box and thought that they were our rented ones that we forgot to return, so she tossed them out because she thought they were taking up too much space.

Instead, they were quickly replaced with a box of neatly folded shirts, watches, and soccer player posters. Bridget told me that there were still a couple of months until Daryl's birthday, and she wanted to keep his birthday gifts for him here until then.

I nodded after staring at her blankly for a long while.

It was true that she had a very good memory. All the things inside the box were indeed Daryl's favorite items. She could remember everything about Daryl for life, it seemed. However, I was just a passerby in her life, someone she could just keep in her memories for a short while before I was kicked out.

…

Bridget and Daryl returned the next day at noon with huge smiles on their faces.

"Do you remember how we used to skip classes in high school just to get to that barbecue joint by the beach? You even tore your pants while scaling the school wall and had to lie to our homeroom teacher that a wildcat scratched you instead."

Daryl chuckled and nudged Bridget on the shoulder. "You still have the nerve to bring that up! It only happened because you had been pestering me for days to take you to that barbecue joint. I wouldn't have had to scale any walls otherwise!"

Bridget just stuck her tongue out at him before doubling over in laughter once again.

When Daryl turned around and saw me there, he smiled even more deeply and said, "It's such a pity that you couldn't come with us, Aiden. That beach barbecue was really one of the best ones I've ever had in my life."

I nodded at him before turning to look at Bridget.

"I've got something to tell you."

"Later. Look, Daryl purposely learned how to brew this at a cafe on the way back. He made two. This is yours."

She then stuffed a plastic takeout cup into my hands. I only just realized that she was holding another cup of java chip frappe in her other hand, and it was already half gone.

"Try it, Aiden," Daryl said. "I made this peach frappe especially for you. I even added another serving of peach syrup. Go ahead and try it."

Aiden's POV

Daryl deliberately emphasized the word "peach" every time he said it.

I just put the drink on the table and said, "Thank you, but you can both have it instead."

Daryl let out a disappointed "Oh," and lowered his head. "But Aiden, I'm really not contagious or anything."

Bridget frowned. She dragged me out to the balcony and warned me in a low voice, "What the hell is wrong with you? Daryl personally made that drink for you. You're going to embarrass him if you don't take it."

I met her gaze.

"I can't drink peach—"

"Why not? You've always liked peach frappes, haven't you? You're just doing this to Daryl on purpose, aren't you?"

I suddenly realized how ridiculous it all was.

I had already told her about my peach allergy the same year I met her. Even inhaling peach fuzz would cause a reaction in my airways, so consuming anything with peaches would be even more disastrous for me.

When had she begun thinking that I liked peach frappes in the first place?

When she saw that I wasn't responding to her question, she sighed heavily and said, "Are you still mad because I forgot your coffee earlier? Or is it because Daryl drank your peach frappe?

"Why are you being so sensitive lately? Daryl and I are just ordinary friends. What's the point of you being jealous of him?"

She suddenly realized that my blazer I'd hung out to dry on the balcony was missing. She thought that I had taken it in to wear it the next day to work, so she softened her tone and tugged on my wrist.

"Alright, don't be mad anymore. You're going to be promoted to a managerial position soon. And managers aren't as petty as you are right now.

"Once this busy season is over, I'll take you to Grand Sky Dining next month for a romantic dinner, alright? It'll be just the two of us."

I drew my lips in a straight line and pulled my hand out of her grasp.

She was stunned and subconsciously took a step forward.

Daryl suddenly began walking toward the door with red-rimmed eyes.

"I'm sorry, Aiden. I won't make coffee for you anymore. Please don't fight just because of me."

Then, he turned and practically ran out of the apartment.

Bridget's face turned dark at once. "Happy now?"

She grabbed her jacket and wanted to run out after Daryl, but I stopped her.

"Do you still remember when my birthday is, Bridget?"

She was already halfway out the door when she heard my question. However, she hesitated at the door and responded, "When was it again? I've been really busy lately and—"

"It was yesterday."

I hadn't wanted to go with her to her friends' gathering yesterday, but I misunderstood her, thinking that she had been planning to celebrate my birthday with her friends.

Bridget stiffened at the door, a flash of guilt appearing in her eyes. However, it only appeared for a fraction of a second. She still rushed out of the door toward the elevator when she heard it ding.

"Stay at home and wait for me! I'll go and get you a cake and make it up to you!"

The door shut after her, and everything was quiet once more.

I finally unclenched my right fist that had already turned ice-cold.

She still hadn't come home by 8:00 pm later that day. She just called me, sounding very excited on the phone.

"It was such a coincidence! Daryl just told me that he missed our high school teacher, and as it turned out, our teacher happened to be in our city on a business trip! I've already called my other friends to meet up. I won't be back for dinner anymore!"

I stared at the dinner I'd already prepared on the table. The food had already gone cold by now. Even the cream on the ice cream cake had begun melting into a weird gloop.

"But you said—"

She then hung up on me and texted me instead.

"It's just too noisy here. I'll be back after dinner. Go to bed early tonight and rest well."

My fingers froze on the phone screen. I just didn't have the strength to reply to her text anymore.

A short while later, I saw that Daryl had posted on his Instagram stories. The first one was a video of Bridget serving him some food from a buffet table.

He said, "Wow, it's been years, and I can't believe you still remember my favorite dishes."

Bridget replied, "Of course I still remember everything about you! How could I ever forget?"

I shut my eyes and felt my phone vibrating again. This time, it was an email.

"Good day, Mr. Aiden Rossario. Congratulations on your new position at our company. Kindly report to the office in two days at 8:00 am to complete your onboarding procedures. Thank you."

I got up and threw the cold dinner into the trash, including the cake I'd bought. I'd guessed that she would buy the wrong type of cake, so I had gone through the trouble to buy it myself.

But now, the cream and frosting had completely melted, and the "Happy Birthday" written on the cake had already smudged into a horrible, ugly mess.

The cake couldn't wait for her anymore.

I didn't want to wait for her anymore either.

…

It was dawn by the time Bridget finally came home.

"You're still up?" she asked. "Sorry, I forgot to buy the cake for you. But this is one that Daryl bought for you as his way of apologizing to you."

I didn't even need to turn around and look to know that it was a peach mille-feuille cake he'd bought.

"You can have it instead."

"Aiden Rosario! Are you done with your stupid tantrum? Don't you know that Daryl—"

"I'm allergic to peaches."