No Room for Three: I Accepted Another Offer

Chapter 2

The next day, I had a high fever.

When I woke up, my phone showed more than a dozen missed calls, all from the HR department at St. Vincent's Hospital.

I was missing a sealed document for my evaluation, and they needed me to submit it that day.

I dragged myself out of bed and sent Damian a message.

Claire: Can you drive me to campus? I have a fever.

30 minutes later, he replied with only one word.

Damian: Wait.

I sat in the living room and waited until noon.

When I heard the lock turn, I thought he was finally back.

I stood up, only to see Lilian standing at the door.

She entered the passcode effortlessly, like she had done it countless times before, then wheeled two cardboard boxes inside.

"Damian said I could move some of my things here."

This was the apartment Damian and I had shared for two years.

The passcode was my birthday, yet Lilian remembered it better than he did.

Her eyes landed on the fever medicine on the table, and she froze.

"Are you sick?"

"Yeah."

"Damian didn't tell me. He was helping me deal with my license stuff. The submission deadline is this afternoon, so we had to deal with my paperwork first."

I picked up my bag.

"It's fine. I'll go by myself."

"You look awful. Why don't you wait a little longer?"

"No need."

I had just stepped out of the apartment when Damian walked out of the elevator.

He was holding a cup of hot latte.

The moment he saw me, his brows knitted together.

"Why are you out here when you're sick?"

"I need to submit my documents today."

"I told you to wait for me, didn't I? I said I'd come back."

"I waited—for three hours."

"Lilian's paperwork was more urgent. She doesn't know how things work. I couldn't leave her alone at the service desk."

He touched my forehead, then placed the hot latte in my hand.

"Be good. I'll take her to the bus station first, then I'll drive you there."

I lowered my eyes to the label on the cup.

No sugar.

Lilian only drank her coffee without sugar.

I had always struggled with low blood sugar, and Damian used to add extra sugar packets to my drinks without me asking.

"You gave me the wrong one."

I handed the cup back to him.

He glanced at the label, a hint of embarrassment crossing his face.

"It's just a drink. Don't be so particular."

I didn't take it back.

In the end, Lilian took a taxi to the bus station herself.

Damian looked unhappy the entire drive to campus.

After I submitted the missing documents, I went to the campus clinic for an IV drip.

He sat beside me the entire time, answering work emails from Grace Medical Center and barely speaking to me.

When the nurse removed the needle, my hand was too weak to hold the cotton ball properly. A small spot of blood quickly seeped through.

Damian looked up, took the cotton ball from my hand, and pressed it against the wound.

"How can you not even handle something this simple?"

His words sounded like a scolding, but his touch was gentle.

I stared at his lowered eyes and familiar expression, and my heart softened again.

Throughout our four years at university, whenever I stayed up all night organizing case studies, he'd always be there with me.

When I failed an exam, he'd take me out for a nice dinner to cheer me up.

When I was terrified before my first surgery and my palms were covered in sweat, he'd hold my hand and tell me he was here for me.

Those memories had been real.

But the patience he once gave me, he was now giving to Lilian too.

Maybe even more.

*****

That evening, another prom only for our class was held.

I had no intention of attending, but Damian came to pick me up with a dress in his hands.

"Everyone is waiting for you. Don't be a buzzkill."

When the prom began, Professor Alex invited the outstanding graduates to perform the opening dance.

Damian walked straight toward me.

I had just raised my hand when he passed right by me and stopped in front of Lilian.

"Her high heel broke. I'll finish this dance with her."

The music started.

Lilian stepped onto Damian's shoes, and he held her waist as they slowly moved across the dance floor.

Cheers spread through the crowd.

My teammate patted my shoulder.

"Don't be jealous. They'll soon be colleagues. You'll see plenty of situations like this once they start working together."

I lowered my hand.

When the song ended, Damian returned to me.

"You're not actually upset about this, are you?"

I asked quietly, "What if I had stepped on another man's shoes to dance tonight?"

His expression changed instantly.

"How is that the same thing?"

"Why not?"

"Lilian and I have known each other for years. There is absolutely nothing between us. Don't compare her to some random guy."

He said so as if it were the simplest truth in the world.

As if he was the only one allowed to decide where the boundaries were.

And as if he had the right to decide where mine should be drawn, too.