They Called Me Old Bird, I Walked Away

Chapter 2

After work, I slid into Adrian's familiar black sports car, and the tight, sour look on my face finally softened a little.

"She's just a young girl who doesn't know any better. Take her under your wing a bit, cut her some slack for my sake, yeah?" His tone was unmistakeably pleading.

I didn't feel like dragging the argument out, so I dropped the issue and cut him some slack.

Inside the private dining room, Sabrina sat with her long hair falling loose over her shoulders, her makeup done to perfection.

The second we walked in, she jumped to her feet.

"Mr. Pierce, Evelyn! I was worried you'd get bored waiting for the food, so I ordered a few dishes ahead of time. Can you check if they're to your taste?"

I glanced over at Adrian, but he just walked straight over and sat down right next to Sabrina, grinning as he spoke, "Sabrina was scared you were still mad at her, so she specifically asked to come over to apologize. Look how thoughtful she is."

Sabrina poured me a glass of clear white wine with obvious eagerness, holding her own cup up to me.

"Evelyn, this was all my fault. I got you all worked up over the data issue, and even got people talking about you behind your back... I won't make excuses. I'll drink a whole cup to punish myself!"

She tossed the entire drink back in one go with a small gulp, and a bright pink flush immediately rose to her cheeks, making her look even sweeter and more endearing.

Adrian gave her an approving look, then turned to me and asked casually, "People are talking about Evelyn? What are they saying?"

Sabrina pressed her lips together and gave a coy little smile. "Oh, Mr. Pierce, you should ask Evelyn directly about that. I shouldn't be the one to say it."

Adrian turned back to me, his eyes heavy with obvious curiosity.

I kept my tone perfectly even as I answered him, "Your employees are calling me old maid."

The cruel, age-targeted nickname stung even as I said it out loud.

Adrian didn't even bat an eye. He just burst out laughing. "Sabrina was just messing around with you, trying to get on your good side! Are you actually taking that seriously?"

Then he looked me dead in the eye and gave a dry, mocking snort. "That's... just like you."

I stared at the face I'd woken up next to and fallen asleep beside every single day for eight whole years, and suddenly it looked like that of a total stranger.

"Adrian, is this… actually funny to you? Hearing people call me an old maid, you really think that's some kind of joke?"

The air in the room went dead still in an instant.

Sabrina made a show of moving to stand up, her eyes already glistening red.

"Mr. Pierce, am I getting in the way here? I'll leave right now, you two can talk things out…"

"Sabrina, sit down!" Adrian pressed a hand to her wrist to stop her, then turned to glare at me, annoyance written all over his face. "Evelyn, Sabrina's sincerely apologizing here. Can you stop being so aggressive? It's just a stupid nickname, is it really that big of a deal?"

It felt like someone had rammed a red-hot knife straight through my chest.

I stared at his hand clamped around Sabrina's wrist, and a bitter, twisted laugh bubbled up in my throat.

All the trust and love we'd built up over eight years crumbled to dust right then and there.

"Fine. Just fine." I suddenly let out a sharp, cold laugh.

I picked up the glass of clear sake Sabrina had poured for me earlier. "This apology drink? It's more than I can accept."

With that, I didn't even bother glancing at their furious, ugly faces. I turned on my heel and stormed straight out.