The End Of Something
1147 Words
Chapter One
The End of Something
"Amaya."
Her manager's voice was softer than usual.
That was worse.
If he had been angry, she could have defended herself. If he had been cold, she could have hated him for it.
But sympathy?
Sympathy meant she had already lost.
"I tried," he said.
She forced a small smile.
"I know."
He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"You were one of our best employees."
The sentence hurt more than she expected.
Were.
Past tense.
Amaya Rossi learned that losing everything did not happen all at once.
It happened quietly.
A manager who suddenly avoided eye contact.
A hospital staff or security guard who looked at her with pity.
She stared at the envelope sitting on the polished desk in front of her, her fingers resting on the edge but refusing to open it.
She already knew.
The words were unnecessary.
Amaya looked around the office she had spent years trying to build a future in.
Sterling Crown Bank was everything she had worked for.
A stable job.
A good reputation.
A way to prove that she was more than the girl who spent her younger years watching hospital bills pile up while praying for miracles.
Until Carter Jones walked into her life.
Until he became the person who saved her.
And eventually...
The person she needed saving from.
"I can't keep defending you," her manager continued carefully. "Not when a customer complaint turns into a scene every other week."
Her throat tightened.
"He isn't always like that."
The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
Her manager looked at her sadly.
That look said everything.
Even she didn't believe herself anymore.
"He came here, shouted at security and accused you of things in front of clients." He said quietly
Amaya looked down.
She remembered.
The embarrassment.
The whispers.
The way people stared.
The way Carter smiled afterward and told her he was only protecting what belonged to him.
"I understand," she whispered.
Her manager pushed the envelope toward her.
"I wish I was telling you this under different circumstances."
Amaya took it.
Something better.
She wished she knew what that looked like.
---
The apartment was silent when she returned.
Too silent.
For a moment, Amaya allowed herself to breathe.
No shouting.
No accusations.
No Carter asking why she was late.
Then she saw his shoes near the door.
Her stomach dropped.
"I'm home," she called softly.
No answer.
She slowly placed her bag down.
"Carter?"
A glass touched the table somewhere in the living room.
Then his voice came.
"You lost your job."
It wasn't a question.
Amaya froze.
"How did you know?"
He stepped into view.
Twenty-nine years old, but for half a second, she saw the boy who held her hand outside the hospital room.
The man who once made her heart skip whenever she saw him at school.
The man who once sat beside her in a hospital waiting room and promised her everything would be okay.
The man who paid for her mother's treatment when she had nowhere else to turn.
The man she thought was her miracle.
Now he looked at her like she was a problem he had to solve.
"Your manager called."
Her heart sank.
"You called my manager?"
Carter shrugged.
"Someone had to explain things."
"Explain what?"
His expression changed.
"You really want to do this?"
Amaya said nothing.
That was usually safer.
He walked closer.
"You've been acting different lately."
"I lost my job today."
"And somehow you're making this about you."
She closed her eyes.
There it was.
The twist.
The shift.
Somehow, everything always became her fault.
"I need time to figure things out."
Carter laughed quietly.
"Figure things out?"
He looked around their apartment.
"You think you would even have this life without me? You became distant after getting the job.......the job I found for you"
The words hit exactly where he intended.
A part of her still remembered the man who helped her.
The man who sat with her while her mother fought for every breath.
The man who paid the hospital bills.
The man she once loved.
But she was slowly realizing something terrifying.
Someone could save you once...
and still hurt you later.
"I need some space," she said.
The room went quiet.
Carter stared at her.
Then smiled.
A smile that made her wish he had yelled instead.
"Space?"
Amaya didn't answer.
"After everything I did for you?"
Her chest tightened.
There it was.
The debt.
The invisible chain.
"You don't get to leave after I saved you."
Amaya wondered if she had confused gratitude with love.
"Will you eat pizza? I ordered "
Her throat tightened
He always did this try to right his very wrong with a basic thing
"I'm not hungry "
I was already tired and couldn't deal with more drama.
But I couldn't add that part since I wasn't up to drama this evening .
"Do you boo"
He said whilst slamming the door and retreating back into the room.
Crashing on the sofa I let out a deep breathe and looked at the place that once felt like home to me.
And as usual,
Amaya thought of how she had confused gratitude with love.
---
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