Our Anniversary, Their Hundredth Date

I arrived thirty minutes early, wearing the black velvet dress Callum loved.

In my purse sat a small box. Inside were platinum cufflinks I had designed myself. On the back of each one, I had engraved the date of our first date.

Four years. Tonight was supposed to be ours.

I pushed open the door to the private room and froze.

Sienna Vale, Callum's childhood friend, sat beside him at the window table. She was holding out a forkful of tiramisu, and he leaned in to take it.

A waiter slid past me. "Mr. Sterling, the usual for you and Miss Vale?"

"Yes, thanks," Callum said.

He hadn't even noticed me in the doorway.

"Maren!" Sienna jumped up, her cheeks pink. "Oh my God, is tonight your anniversary? I had no idea. I was just passing by, and..."

Callum pulled her chair back out for her. "Sit down, Si. Maren doesn't mind. We're practically family."

The window table only had two seats. A staff member dragged an extra chair into the aisle for me. There was no plate in front of me and no silverware. Someone remembered my water glass five minutes later.

I opened the menu so I wouldn't have to look at them.

Ribeye. Mushroom soup. Lemon tart. All of it was Sienna's favorite.

In the center of the table sat a platter of raw oysters. I'm allergic to them.

Callum followed my gaze, and his face changed. "Take those away, please. And bring her the butternut squash soup."

He reached over and smoothed my hair. "You should've said something, sweetheart."

For a second, my chest loosened. That was the Callum I knew.

Then the manager walked in with a bottle of champagne.

"Mr. Sterling, Miss Vale! Congratulations on your one hundredth reservation with us." He set down a framed photo. "A small gift from the house."

In the photo, the two of them sat at this same window table and smiled at each other.

Sienna flipped the frame over and laughed softly. "Oh, Cal, look. Our old note."

Engraved on the back were the words *C & S, always our table.* Below them was a date from three years ago.

My fingers went cold on the menu.

"That's the night of my father's funeral," I said.

Callum's fork stopped in midair.

"You promised to sit with me through the vigil," I said. "You left at two in the morning. You said there was an emergency at the office."

"Maren..."

"One hundred dinners." I set the menu down. "Why did no one ever tell me?"

Sienna's eyes filled at once. "It's just a monthly thing. Old friends catching up. I'm sorry. I shouldn't take up so much of his time."

Callum brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb. Then he turned to me, and his voice went flat.

"We've known each other for twelve years. You knew that when you agreed to marry me."

I laughed. I hadn't planned to. It just came out of me, short and dry.

Sienna sniffed. "Cal, after you two get married, can we still keep our dinners?"

"Of course." He didn't hesitate. "Maren isn't that kind of woman."

I never took the cufflinks out of my purse.

When we left, Sienna slid into the passenger seat without a word. She adjusted it back two notches, as if her body already knew the angle. The car's speakers came on with her playlist.

I sat in the back. My reflection floated in the dark window, pale above the black velvet.

We stopped outside her building.

"My heater's broken," Sienna said quietly. "I hate being alone up there when it clanks."

"I'll take a look." Callum unbuckled. "Ten minutes, Maren."

Forty minutes later, he came back holding a hot chocolate. The lid was already off. It had cooled to the perfect temperature, half sweet, just the way I liked it.

"Peace offering," he said, and smiled.

I reached for it.

Sienna came running out the front door in her coat. "Cal, the whole place just lost power. Something's sparking in the wall. Could I stay with you two tonight?"

"The guest room next to ours is free," Callum said.

I almost dropped the cup.

"No," I said. "Not that room."

That room held my father's pocket watch, his jewelry sketches, and every last thing he left behind. Callum had installed the lock himself. He had looked me in the eye and promised no one would ever go in.

"Maren." Sienna's voice trembled. "It's fine. I'll find a hotel. I don't want you two fighting because of me."

Callum opened the car door for her. "She's not a stranger, Maren."

"Do you even remember what today is?" I asked.

He went still. Then he took my hand, and his voice softened like warm butter.

"I haven't forgotten our anniversary. Don't ruin it over a room."

I watched him lean in and buckle Sienna's seatbelt.

He remembered the date. He just never thought the day belonged to me.

At home, Sienna carried her overnight bag into my father's room. Callum unlocked the door for her himself.

I lay awake beside him until his breathing slowed.

Just past midnight, my phone lit up with an email.

*Royal College of Art, London. Postgraduate Program in Jewelry Design. We are delighted to offer you a place. The term begins in seven days.*

I read it three times.

Then I opened the airline app and booked a one-way ticket.

I didn't wake Callum. I didn't type a single word to him.

My thumb was on the power button when a sharp crack split the silence.

Glass shattered on the other side of the wall.

It came from my father's room.