"Bitter and Sweet"

Learning to Live Without You

The café still opened at the same time. 7:00 a.m. Lights on, machines humming, doors unlocked. Everything stayed the same except, it didn't.

Courtney moved through her routine like nothing had changed because on the outside, nothing had.

Customers still came in, orders were still called out, coffee still brewed. But inside? There was a quiet space that hadn't been there before and it echoed.

"Caramel latte," she said automatically, placing a cup on the counter.

The customer blinked. "Uh… I ordered iced americano."

Courtney froze. "Oh—sorry," she said quickly, taking it back. "My mistake."

Marco watched from the side, arms crossed.

"That's the third time today," he said.

"I said I'm fine."

"You also gave someone a drink they didn't order and almost burned another."

"I'm just distracted."

"You're not distracted," he replied. "You're pretending something didn't happen."

Courtney set the cup down harder than she intended. "I'm working."

"And he's gone," Marco said bluntly.

Silence. The words landed sharp, accurate, unavoidable.

Courtney inhaled slowly. "Don't."

"You told him to leave."

"I know."

"And now you're acting like you didn't want him to stay."

"I didn't," she insisted.

Marco raised an eyebrow. "That's a lie."

Courtney looked away because it was.

Days passed then a week. Renz didn't come back. Not at 9:10. Not at any time and somehow, that made everything feel more real than the moment he walked out because now, it wasn't a possibility anymore, it was fact.

Courtney stopped looking at the door. Stopped pausing when the bell chimed.

Stopped expecting something she knew wouldn't happen. That was how she coped by pretending she had already moved on. But at night? That was different.

The café, empty and quiet, became a place filled with memories she didn't ask for. The seat he used to take. The way he used to watch her without saying anything. The way everything felt… easier before it wasn't.

"You're closing early again," Lia said one evening, leaning against the counter.

Courtney shrugged. "Slow day."

"It wasn't."

Courtney didn't respond.

Lia softened. "You miss him."

Courtney let out a quiet breath. "I miss the version of things before they got complicated," she said.

"That's not the same."

"I know."

Silence settled between them. "Do you regret it?" Lia asked gently.

Courtney didn't answer right away because she had asked herself that same question more times than she could count.

"No," she said and that was the truth.

Across the city, Renz Cortez didn't go back either not to the café, not to her but that didn't mean he moved on. His office was quiet, too quiet. The kind of quiet that came with late nights and unfinished thoughts.

Adrian stood near his desk, watching him carefully. "You're distracted," Adrian said.

"I'm working."

"You've been staring at the same file for twenty minutes."

Renz didn't respond because he knew it was true.

"You should go," Adrian added.

Renz glanced up. "Where?"

Adrian didn't hesitate. "Back."

Silence. Renz leaned back in his chair slightly, his expression unreadable again. "I don't think I'm welcome there anymore," he said.

"Did she say that?"

"No."

"Then you're assuming."

"I'm respecting what she asked for."

Adrian nodded slowly. "And what do you want?"

That question stayed because for once, Renz didn't have a clean answer.

Later that night, he found himself in his car driving no destination, no plan just movement and somehow, he ended up outside the café.

Lights off. Closed. Quiet.

Renz sat there for a long moment watching, remembering not moving because going inside wasn't an option anymore nd maybe that was the point.

Back inside her apartment, Courtney sat by the window, her phone in her hand unlocked, screen blank, a contact open. His name. She didn't call, didn't type, didn't do anything just stared because sometimes wanting to reach out and choosing not to? That's the hardest part, miles apart, same silence, same thoughts, same unfinished ending.

And neither of them knew if this was really over or just the part where everything falls apart before it finds a way back together.