“I just want to ask you one thing. Do you still want to marry me?”

My voice was thick and nasal when I asked him.

“Elaine, are you crying?”

Raymond went straight into a panic.

“I'm still overseas right now, setting up a project.”

“Wait for me. Two days at the most, and I'll fly home to you.”

I gave a small laugh.

“Okay.”

After I hung up, I looked up again, just in time to see Isabel tucking a half-folded umbrella into a suitcase.

“Leave it, I'll do it.”

Tyler walked over on his own, folded it away for her without a second thought, and zipped the suitcase shut.

“Don't worry about me, go comfort Elaine.”

Isabel noticed me standing there in silence, and did her best to signal him with her eyes.

“She couldn't come abroad with you in the first place, she's already upset. She's your girlfriend.”

Tyler gave me a cool glance.

“It's fine. Elaine handles pressure well, she'll get over it on her own.”

Hearing that, I laughed.

I wiped my tears, turned around, hailed a ride, and went home to pack.

I was just hauling my bags, big and small, out the door for shipping when the door was pushed open.

Tyler froze.

Then he came over, frowning, and said to me,

“Didn't I already tell you? I'm not letting you come abroad with me.”

“You've got a good job here at home.”

“You can't give up everything you have just because I'm your boyfriend. That isn't fair to you.”

“And it's a lot of pressure on me too.”

I stopped packing, straightened up, and looked at Tyler.

“I'm not going abroad with you.”

He stared at me, thrown.

“Then what are you packing for?”

I scoffed.

“Clearing things out. When something's no longer needed, you throw it out.”

“I don't buy it.”

Tyler frowned, walked over, and picked out the shirt from my suitcase that I wore most often.

“This is your favorite. How could you bear to throw it out?”

He sighed, at a loss.

“Elaine, can you not be like this?”

“I told you, not letting you come abroad with me is for your own good.”

“This job of yours pays well, your parents are here at home. Running that far away for me, is it worth it?”

Tyler had always been gentle with me before. Even the time I accidentally spilled coffee on his laptop,

he had only smiled, indulgent, and said, “Leave it to me, I'll take care of it.”

It was only about coming abroad with him.

On that, he pushed back hard.

I looked at Tyler.

“Then tell me. Why is Isabel going to the exact same country as you?”

Tyler froze for a second, then lifted his eyes to me.

“It's just a coincidence.”

“She……she has her own plans, and it just happens to be the same country I chose.”

“With her major, the schools over there are good, going will really help her.”

I laughed.

“Her plans just happened to land on the country you're going to?”

“Just happened to be the same city?”

“Just happened to book the same flight?”

“Tyler, do you believe that yourself?”

Tyler didn't argue back, he only stared at me quietly, a flicker of impatience passing through his eyes.

“Elaine, Isabel and I are just friends.”

“Besides, weren't you the one who introduced her to me in the first place?”

“She's your best friend, so I looked out for her a little more, that's all.”

“We get along, we think alike.”

“But that doesn't mean anything.”

“If you insist on fixating on this, there's nothing I can do about it.”

I looked down and gave a small laugh, then pulled an old movie ticket out of my pocket.

"So how do you explain this?"

Tyler glanced at it, and his face shifted at once.

"You went through my pockets."

His hand came up on reflex to snatch it back.

But I only stared at him, cold.

"I said I wanted to see that movie. You and Isabel had already seen it."

"I told myself it was a coincidence. That the two of you just happened to have the same idea."

"It never crossed my mind."

"That you were the one who asked her to go with you."

Under what circumstances does a man skip over his own girlfriend to go see a movie alone with his girlfriend's best friend?

I couldn't think of one.

But once he was caught, there was no panic on his face at all. His brows only knit tighter.

"It was just one movie."

"Yes, I asked Isabel to come. So what does that prove?"

"Her advisor had assigned a reaction paper on that exact film."

"A friend had given me a ticket, so we went. It's that simple."

I froze for a moment.

Tyler, always so terse, never bothered with long-winded explanations like this.

Except when it came to Isabel.

For her, he always made an exception.

I had nothing left to say. I turned to leave, and he caught me by the wrist.

"Elaine, can you please stop letting your mind run wild?"

"You're my girlfriend."

"Your best friend and I just share the same sign, that's all, so our personalities and ideas and interests happen to line up."

"At most she's a close friend."

"Or another version of me."

"You're the only one I love. It won't be anyone else."

My steps only paused for a beat, and I walked out anyway, without looking back.

At the door I ran straight into Isabel, her face full of surprise.

"Elaine?"

"It's so late. Where are you off to?"

My eyes dropped to the two cups of coffee in her hands.

Starbucks.

Most of the times I wasn't around, Isabel would bring two, one for her and one for Tyler.

"Isabel, shouldn't I be the one asking you?"

"It's this late. What are you doing at my place?"

I smiled, and took one of the cups from her hand.

"You brought me coffee, right? I'll take it."

"Hey—that one isn't for—"

Isabel caught the look on Tyler's face and shut her mouth instantly, forcing on a smile.

"Oh, Elaine, it's just a cup of coffee. Look at you, my little glutton, fighting your own boyfriend over it."

"I only figured you usually don't have to stay late running experiments, so I didn't get you any food."

"Since you want it, then this one of mine can go to Tyler."

But she'd clearly already taken a sip from that cup's straw, a faint trace of lipstick still on it.

Tyler, who was always so particular, didn't mind in the least. He took it right from her.

"Thanks."

"Those experiment files you wanted, I'll send them to your email later."

"No rush!"

Isabel waved a hand, then turned and crouched down to pet the cat Tyler kept.

The motions easy, familiar, as though she were back in her own home, stroking her own pet.

"Tyler, why is your cat still so skinny?"

"Didn't you feed it that cat food I bought last time?"

Tyler laughed too.

"Of course I did. It just won't put on weight."

He leaned in toward her without thinking, and the two of them fell into their back-and-forth.

And in an instant, I was air again.

I lowered my head and gave a bitter, self-mocking little smile.

So from the very beginning, I'd been this unnecessary.

"I didn't touch the coffee. You two keep it."

"You go on with your discussion. I won't be in the way."

When they saw me pick up both suitcases and head for the door,

Isabel hurried after me at once.

"Elaine, don't read too much into it."

"Tyler and I really are just friends."

"Are you still upset about the two of us going abroad together?"

"If it bothers you, I can rebook my ticket and switch to a different city."

She said it so understandingly.

But Tyler cut in almost the instant she finished.

"There's no need to rebook."

"That's not what Elaine meant."

Then he turned to look at me.

"Elaine, you know how it is. The city was locked in when we applied. Switching would be a huge hassle."

"And rebooking a flight is even more of a headache. I already told you, this whole thing is just a coincidence."

"You've always been so easygoing. You wouldn't get worked up over something this small, right?"

I looked at the two of them.

One holding the coffee, one deflecting on her behalf.

So in sync it was like they'd rehearsed it a hundred times.

I smiled.

"Tyler."

"You two really do suit each other."

"Same zodiac sign, matching personalities, even the same country to go abroad to."

And more than that, you'd suit each other perfectly as boyfriend and girlfriend, too.

But that last line I kept to myself.

Tyler's face changed.

"Elaine, don't read too much into it."

"We've been together three years. Do you still not understand me?"

"Even if you're angry, you can just say whatever's on your mind."

"There's no reason to drag out a suitcase and stage some big running-away-from-home scene."

I glanced down at the luggage in my hands.

Three years' worth of my things were in this apartment. Too much to move in one trip.

Before Tyler came back, I'd already had a moving van haul out a full load.

These two suitcases were the last of it, headed to my parents' place.

"I'm not reading into anything, and I'm not running away from home."

"I told you, I'm just clearing things out."

"You go handle your business. Don't worry about me."

Tyler still had his brow furrowed, one hand pressed flat on my suitcase.

"Elaine."

"You and Isabel are supposed to be best friends. Why do you have to push things to this point?"

Isabel stood in the living room, holding her coffee, and said softly,

"Tyler, let Elaine cool off first."

"She's angry right now. Nothing anyone says will get through to her."

Tyler glanced at her, then back at me.

In the second his attention slipped, I yanked my hand back hard.

Pulled the door open and walked out.

As the elevator doors slid shut, I saw Tyler standing in the doorway.

He didn't come after me.

Isabel stood behind him and took a sip of her coffee.

"Elaine's always had that little-princess temper."

"I'll smooth things over with her later."

"Anyway, Tyler, you just got back. You probably haven't had dinner yet."

"I heard a really good place opened up on the North Side for a big dinner out. Want to go try it?"

Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sure. I'd actually planned to take Elaine out for a big dinner tonight."

"She insists on making a scene, so I guess it'll have to be Miss Sanchez keeping me company."

The two of them, line after line,

soon broke the heavy silence again.

Both of them seemed so certain I was only throwing a little tantrum.

That they wouldn't even have to coax me, that in a few days I'd cool off on my own and come scampering right back to their side, trailing after them like always.