Enough of Being Stood Up

After that day, I did not have any further contact with Nathan.

I deleted his number from my phone and blocked him on all my social media accounts. Whenever our mutual friends asked me out, I would always ask beforehand if he would be there.

Eventually, everyone came to a silent understanding—they would only invite one of us to a gathering.

Soon, the day before our college's anniversary celebration arrived.

Anne had called me in advance to invite me to attend the event with her. As one of the college's distinguished graduates, I had also received a formal invitation from the college.

What I didn't expect was that Nathan would also be speaking at the celebration.

Then again, I shouldn't have been surprised. He had always been at the top of his class and even helped the college with new graduates' job placements after he graduated.

It was only natural for them to invite him.

When I arrived at the campus, the place was already packed with people. I skimmed through the programme the college had provided and immediately spotted Nathan's name.

His speech was the seventh program on the list.

I watched the first five performances with Anne. When the sixth performance started, I excused myself and left the auditorium.

As I was walking away, I vaguely heard someone calling my name from behind, but I didn't look back.

A while later, I received a text from my ex-counselor, Richard Holt. "Yvonne, why did you leave so quickly? I called your name several times, but you didn't respond. Your boyfriend's speech is up next. Aren't you going to stay and watch?"

"Thanks, Mr. Holt. Something came up and I had to leave early. Also, I'm single. I don't have a boyfriend." After texting Richard a reply, I couldn't help but shake my head.

I had been so openly obsessed with Nathan during my school days that even Richard knew about us.

Unbeknownst to me, Richard was sitting right next to Nathan at the moment, and he saw my reply.

Under the dim lights of the auditorium, it was hard to read his complicated expression.

After leaving the campus, I went to my office as I had forgotten my bag there in my hurry to attend the college's celebration.

When I arrived, I discovered a partnership proposal on one of our company's new projects.

More importantly, the partner listed in the proposal was Nathan's company.

I immediately called my boss, Adrian Green, to confirm the details. Then, I promptly resigned. "Mr. Green, I'd like to resign due to personal reasons."

"Yvonne, this is so sudden. I was just about to put you in charge of communicating with our partner on this project."

"Thanks, Mr. Green, but don't bother. I can't work with that company."

After ending the call, I opened my laptop and wrote a resignation letter right there at the office.

If my company were going to collaborate with Nathan, the best way for me to avoid him would be to quit.

After submitting the resignation letter, I left the office.

When I returned to the apartment, I noticed that the corridor light was on.

This was a two-unit apartment building, and no one lived in the other apartment on my floor. The corridor lights rarely came on when I wasn't home.

I took a few more steps and spotted Nathan smoking by the stairwell. The floor was littered with cigarette butts—he must have been waiting for a long time.

Thankfully, I had been cautious, so he hadn't noticed me.

I turned around immediately and pressed the button to call the elevator again.

Nathan stepped out of the stairwell just as the elevator doors were closing. I heard him shouting, "Yvonne, it's you, isn't it? You came home. You're in the elevator!"

After getting to the ground floor, I pressed every button on the panel to make sure Nathan couldn't follow me right away before allowing the elevator to make its way back up.

It wasn't the most considerate thing to do, but it worked.

Since I couldn't go home with Nathan loitering about my apartment, I went to a nearby hotel and decided to stay there for the night.

Just as I had finished checking in and turned to walk up the stairs, Nathan rushed in suddenly.

He was panting heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead, and his face was flushed from running. "Did someone just check into a room here? Did a woman named Yvonne Liesel check in? Tell me, quick!" he demanded.