chapter 4
1388 Words
Tony didn’t believe in unfinished conversations.
Not until he became one.
That night, for the first time since the breakup, a strange irritation bubbled up inside him, not anger, exactly something closer to disbelief.
His thumb hovered for a moment and he deleted her number.
Just like that.
But instead of feeling free, something strange settled in his chest.
Not anger. Not sadness exactly.
Something softer… and worse.
A feeling he couldn’t name.
He tossed the phone onto the couch like it had burned him and leaned back.
For the first time in a long while, he stared at his ceiling without pretending to be okay.
And in that silence, Lily stayed.
Months passed.
Tony tried to move on the way people said you should.
He worked harder. Stayed busy.
Took small jobs that didn’t last.
Told himself he was fine.
But nothing stayed steady.
Every opportunity he touched slipped through his fingers like water.
The interviews didn’t go well.
Companies said “we’ll get back to you” and never did.
Slowly, frustration replaced hope.
Then frustration turned into quiet exhaustion.
So he made a decision.
If nothing stable was coming to him, he would go find it.
He changed direction completely, applied everywhere he could, rewrote his CV more times than he could count, and waited.
And then, five months later, his phone buzzed.
Interview invitations
Tony sat up immediately.
He opened the email.
The company name made his breath stop for a second.
Max & Co. Consulting.
He knew that name.
Everyone in the industry did.
It was powerful. Fast-growing.
Ruthless in a way that impressed people and intimidated them at the same time.
Tony’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“This is it,” he whispered to himself.
The morning of the interview came too fast.
Tony stood outside the glass building, adjusting his shirt for the third time.
His reflection stared back at him from the tall doors—slightly nervous, slightly hopeful, and trying very hard not to show it.
He inhaled slowly and walked in.
Inside, everything felt different.
Clean floors. Soft lighting. Quiet confidence in the air.
People moved like they knew exactly where they were going.
Even the silence felt expensive.
A receptionist looked up.
“Good morning. Name please?”
“Tony Elvis. I’m here for the 10 a.m. interview.”
She checked the system, smiled politely.
“Please have a seat. You’ll be called shortly.”
“Thank you,” he said, sitting down.
His heart didn’t calm. It only learned to beat quieter.
Around him were other candidates—men and women in sharp suits, straight backs, focused eyes.
Some tapped their fingers.
Some stared at nothing.
Everyone pretending not to be nervous while clearly drowning in it.
Tony looked down at his hands.
Then the elevator chimed.
He didn’t look at first.
But something in him… something deep and unexplainable made him turn anyway.
And when he did—
Everything stopped.
Lily stepped out.
For a moment, Tony forgot how to breathe.
She looked different.
Not the girl he remembered laughing with.
Not the girl who once cried quietly into her pillow beside him when things got too heavy.
This Lily was… controlled.
Her hair was neatly tied back.
Her white blouse was crisp.
Her red trousers fit like she had chosen them not just for style, but for power.
A tablet rested in her hand like it belonged there.
She looked stronger.
Distant.
Untouchable.
Tony blinked, almost convinced his mind was playing tricks on him.
Then her eyes moved across the room.
And landed on him.
Just for a second.
Time didn’t just slow.
It broke.
Something passed between them—too fast for words.
A flicker. A memory. A wound reopening silently.
Then Lily’s face changed nothing.
She looked away like he was just another person waiting for an opportunity.
She walked forward.
And Tony felt something sink inside him.
“No…” he whispered under his breath.
She stopped near the receptionist.
“Are the candidates here?” she asked calmly.
“Yes, ma’am,” the receptionist replied.
Ma’am.
The realization
That word hit Tony harder than anything else.
He sat up straighter without thinking.
She wasn’t just here.
She belonged here.
Tony’s thoughts started spinning.
Lily… works here?
Since when?
She had mentioned interviews before.
Companies she was applying to.
Dreams she wanted to chase.
But she never said this.
Or maybe she did.
And he just wasn’t listening.
A dull ache formed in his chest as the memory hit him.
All those moments he had taken for granted suddenly felt heavier.
Then—
“Tony Elvis?”
He looked up quickly.
Lily was standing in front of him.
Close enough that he could see her clearly.
Close enough that his heart betrayed him instantly.
“Follow me,” she said.
No smile.
No warmth.
Just business.
He stood and followed her down a long hallway, his mind struggling to keep up with his feet.
They entered a conference room.
She gestured to a chair.
“Have a seat.”
He sat.
She took the seat across from him, placing her tablet neatly on the table.
And just like that—
They were strangers pretending not to remember each other.
Tony cleared his throat.
“Lily…”
She didn’t look up.
“We’ll keep this professional,” she said calmly.
The words weren’t harsh.
But they were final.
Like a door closing without noise.
Tony nodded slowly. “Right.”
She tapped her tablet. “Let’s begin.”
The interview
But it didn’t feel like an
interview.
It felt like a test of everything Tony thought he had survived.
Lily’s questions were sharp, precise.
“Tell me about a time you handled conflict in a team.”
Tony answered carefully.
No reaction.
“What would you do if a client rejected your proposal?”
He answered again.
Still nothing.
Her face stayed calm the entire time.
No encouragement. No approval. Just focus.
It made him feel exposed, like she could see through every word he said.
At one point, their eyes met longer than they should have.
Something flickered in her gaze.
Pain? Memory? Regret?
But it disappeared before he could be sure.
Then she asked the final question.
“Why do you want to work here?”
Tony paused.
He could give the safe answers.
Growth. Experience. Opportunity.
But none of them felt real.
So he chose honesty.
“Because I need a fresh start,” he said quietly.
Lily’s fingers stopped moving for a fraction of a second.
Tony continued, voice lower now.
“And I want to prove to myself that I can build something meaningful… even after losing something important.”
Silence filled the room.
For the first time, Lily looked at him properly.
Not as a candidate.
But as someone she once knew too well.
Something softened in her expression—so brief it almost didn’t exist.
Then she blinked.
And it was gone.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“That will be all.”
Tony walked out of the building feeling like he had just stepped out of a dream he didn’t understand.
Or a ghost he wasn’t ready to face.
He didn’t know if he did well.
He didn’t know what she thought.
All he knew was that seeing Lily again had reopened something he thought he buried long ago.
A week passed.
No email.
No call.
Nothing.
Tony tried not to care, but he kept thinking about her anyway.
The way she looked at him for that brief second.
The way she said his name.
The way she didn’t.
He started doubting everything.
Was he rejected?
Was she ignoring him?
Or worse… was she testing him?
His thoughts grew louder at night.
He would lie in bed replaying every detail, every word, every silence.
Lily had changed.
But so had he.
And somehow, that scared him more.
Then one evening, his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He stared at it for a moment.
His heart tightened.
Slowly, he picked up.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a breath.
And just before the line could go dead—
“Tony…”
His heart stopped.
Because he knew that voice.
And just like that…
Everything he thought he had moved on from came rushing back.
- Writer
