Chapter One Empty Seat
Chapter One
The Empty Seat
There was always a seat for her.
Every Friday evening, no matter how crowded the restaurant became, Adrian left the chair beside him empty.
The waiters had stopped asking about it.
His friends had stopped teasing him.
Even the owner knew.
One seat.
Always empty.
Three years ago, that seat had belonged to the girl he loved.
Now, it belonged to a memory.
Adrian sat alone beneath the warm restaurant lights, staring at the untouched glass of water across from him.
He didn't order food.
He never did on Fridays.
He only came here, sat down, and waited.
For what, even he couldn't explain.
Maybe he was waiting for forgiveness.
Maybe he was waiting for a miracle.
Or maybe he simply hadn't learned how to let go.
“Sir?”
Adrian looked up.
The waitress stood beside the table, holding a menu.
“Are you expecting someone?”
His eyes moved toward the empty chair.
“No.”
She hesitated.
“Then should I remove this chair?”
Adrian's expression changed.
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
The waitress nodded and walked away.
Adrian looked at the chair again.
Three years.
He could still remember her sitting there.
Lena.
She used to complain that the restaurant played the same songs every Friday.
She used to steal food from his plate even after ordering her own.
And whenever he asked why she kept doing it, she would smile and say—
Because yours always tastes better.
A faint smile appeared on Adrian's face.
Then disappeared.
Because the memories didn't hurt as much as what came after them.
His phone vibrated.
A message.
Mira: You're still going there?
Adrian stared at the name.
Mira.
The person who had once convinced him that Lena was the enemy.
The person whose words had changed everything.
His thumb hovered over the screen.
Then another message appeared.
Mira: You need to stop living in the past.
Adrian locked his phone.
If only it were that simple.
He closed his eyes.
And suddenly, he was back three years earlier.
Lena was sitting across from him, laughing.
Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and there was flour on her cheek.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she said.
“Like what?”
“Like I'm the only person in the room.”
“You are.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You're impossible.”
Adrian reached across the table and gently wiped the flour from her cheek.
“Then you're stuck with me.”
She smiled.
“For how long?”
“Forever.”
She laughed.
“You'd better keep that promise.”
“I will.”
Neither of them knew how quickly forever could change.
Neither of them knew that someone was already watching them.
Someone who wanted the seat beside Adrian.
Someone who would eventually do anything to take it.
Adrian opened his eyes.
The restaurant was quiet again.
He looked at the empty chair.
“I should have believed you,” he whispered.
His voice almost broke.
“But I didn't.”
A sound came from the entrance.
Adrian didn't look up at first.
Then the room suddenly became silent.
His eyes lifted.
And his heart stopped.
A woman stood at the doorway.
Older.
Calmer.
Different.
But there was no mistaking those eyes.
Lena.
She looked across the restaurant.
Their eyes met.
For three years, Adrian had imagined this moment a thousand different ways.
In every version, he ran toward her.
In every version, she forgave him.
In every version, everything went back to the way it had been.
But Lena didn't smile.
She didn't move.
Her eyes slowly fell to the empty chair beside him.
Then she looked back at Adrian.
And said quietly,
“You kept my seat.”
Adrian couldn't speak.
Lena turned to leave.
He finally found his voice.
“Lena.”
She stopped.
But she didn't turn around.
Adrian stood.
“Please.”
A long silence followed.
Then Lena looked over her shoulder.
“I didn't come back for the seat, Adrian.”
She walked away.
And for the first time in three years, Adrian understood something terrifying.
Keeping her seat had been easy.
Getting her back would be impossible.
