Breaking up Over One Cup of Yogurt

At our company dinner, my girlfriend, Katherine Hale, makes a detour to get some treats. She hands a glass of juice to my childhood friend, Mark Langley, who is sitting opposite us. Then, she sets down a cup of yogurt in front of me. Mark thanks her with a smile. "How thoughtful of you! You remembered I can't have iced drinks because of my gastric issues." I stare at the cup of yogurt with mango bits in it. Then, I nudge it further away from me, my expression blank. "What's the matter?" Katherine asks casually. I respond, "I'm allergic to mangoes. Did you forget that again?" She freezes for a moment. Then, she smiles and shrugs. "Come on, it's no big deal. Just pick out the mango bits." But she never forgets that Mark doesn't want any cilantro or onion in his food. Also, he only accepts chilled juice without any ice or sugar. Meanwhile, I have difficulty breathing if I take even a single bite of mango, but she thinks it's fine as long as I pick them out. Turns out, if one is biased enough, they can overlook even matters of life and death. On our way home, I sit in the back seat as usual. I look at the two people in the front, who seem perfect for each other. All of a sudden, I feel relief washing over me. Katherine can't even remember my allergies, so what am I holding onto this relationship for? Chapter 1 When the car arrived at the apartment, the two people in the front were still chatting about a movie that had been out less than a week. One of them was my girlfriend, Katherine Hale. She had promised me that we would watch it together, but she had to work overtime that day, so she couldn't make it. The two talked about everything, from the tragic fate of the protagonists to the theme of female solidarity. I had lost count of the times I found myself unable to join in their conversation. Even now, I was still sitting in the back seat like an outsider. The chatting and laughter gradually died down. Glancing at the rearview mirror, Katherine asked in surprise, "Why are you still in the car?" Looking up, I replied calmly, "I'm still waiting for you to unlock the door." Katherine fell silent for a moment. My childhood friend, Mark Langley, immediately tried to smooth things over. "Oh, sorry, I'm rambling again." He reached over to the driver's seat and unlocked the back door with total familiarity. Katherine had bought this car when she made her first fortune. Back then, she was smiling as she told me I wouldn't have to cram into the subway anymore. Later on, Mark came running to me in Ardenbrook, looking for a place to crash. From then on, our commute to and from work turned into a three-person affair. Later on, because Mark had motion sickness, I had to give up my spot on the passenger seat and move to the back seat instead. Having been seated in the back for three years, I no longer remembered what the buttons on the dashboard were for. But Mark knew everything like the back of his hand, and he acted like he owned the place. "Don't worry, Victor. I'll be sure to give Katherine a scolding before she drops me off later." When Katherine heard that, she just chuckled. She didn't argue. I had spent so much time with her that I could easily tell she was indulging him. Once, I told her I didn't like the smell of cigarettes, but she immediately gave me a cold look and complained that I was being selfish for not allowing her space to relax. She hated being criticized, but now, she was already used to Mark nitpicking things she did. The rain outside drifted in through the car window. The chill ran straight from my arm to my core. I opened the door and hurried out as if I were running away from something. Just then, the rain came down even heavier. I scrambled to the building for shelter. It was at that moment that I saw Katherine reaching up to wipe away the raindrops that had fallen on Mark's face. I swiped blindly at the moisture on my face, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it all off. After getting back to my apartment, I took a hot shower. When I exited the bathroom, I received a call from my manager, Jade Pearce. "Beckett, are you sure you want to resign? You know, you just secured a major contract, and I was even thinking of bringing up your raise and promotion to Ms. Hale soon." In my six years in that company, I had applied for a raise and a promotion 12 times. But Katherine had rejected every single one of my applications. My colleagues praised my well-written proposals, but she said it was just my job. My team leader recommended me for an overseas training program, but she said I lacked competency. Even when the entire department petitioned for me to get promoted, she rejected it. I was upset, but I never complained about it. But Mark, whom I had personally referred for the job, was promoted three times over the span of three years. His salary also went from 2,500 dollars to 7,500 dollars a month. In the end, I couldn't stand it anymore. I asked Katherine why she had made that decision. She said that because of our relationship, she had to set clear boundaries at work. She told me to be sensible and just be the bigger person. On the other hand, according to her, Mark didn't have much experience, so we had to tolerate and look out for him. But this time, I had had enough. I was done backing down. I took a deep breath. "Forget it. I've already made up my mind." Chapter 2 Jade stopped trying to talk me out of it. I heard the key turning in the lock. Katherine, who had just gotten home, caught my last sentence. "Made up your mind about what?" I replied, "Nothing." Katherine didn't prod further. She walked up to the couch, package in hand. Then, she opened the package to reveal a luxury watch inside. She looked up at me. "How does it look?" This watch had been sitting in my cart for a whole year. Whenever I asked her if it looked good, she would say it was a waste of money and that luxury items were just a marketing gimmick. She even said these fancy things didn't suit me. I thought she had already forgotten about it, so I was quite surprised that she still remembered the things I liked. Before I could get emotional, though, her next words immediately shattered my delusions. "You're childhood friends with Mark, aren't you? Do you think he'll like it?" I froze, then nodded. "He'll love it." As if noticing my foul mood, Katherine explained herself, which was quite unusual for her. "Tomorrow is his third anniversary with our company. That's why I bought this for him. After all, he came all the way here to ask for your help back then. We wouldn't want him to feel neglected." Katherine paused, then glanced at my bare wrist. "If you'd like, I can get you one for your birthday." I was her actual boyfriend, but I had to wait on her vague promises. In the past, Katherine rarely made promises to me. She would always prove her love through her actions. When I shared posts of interesting food spots to check out, she would take me there right after school. When I casually mentioned I was craving lobster rolls, she would bring some for me on our next date. Later on, I turned down a job offer with a six-figure salary at Valis, hence ending our long-distance relationship that lasted a year. She quietly worked overtime and worked hard to land deals. Then, she showed me the deed to the house with our names written on it. "Victor, we have our own home now." Her actions right now made her look like a different person altogether. I looked away. "It's okay. I'm not particularly fond of that model." Katherine frowned a little. "Fine, then." She turned and headed toward the bathroom. "I'll go take a shower. Don't tell Mark about the watch, okay? It's meant to be a surprise." Soon, I heard the sound of rushing water coming from the bathroom, sealing the space off. Katherine's phone, which she had left on the coffee table, vibrated for a moment. I looked down just in time to catch a message pop up that read, "Did you make it home?" The contact name only consisted of a red heart emoji. It was a message from Mark. Last year, I had gotten into a huge argument with Katherine over this. I had found out at the same time that she had changed my contact name from a private nickname to a generic "Victor Beckett, July 14". Back then, I told her in a cold voice that we were breaking up. Then, I packed my bags and moved out. Katherine panicked and tried to get me to change my mind. She promised me that she would quit smoking, change my contact name back, and keep a distance from Mark. For some time, our relationship seemed to have returned to its early days, filled with passion. I would wake up to find breakfast on the table, which she had bought for me. After work, she would wait for me so that we could go home together. But I knew that there was an invisible wall between us. This went on until three months ago. Mark drank too much in my stead and was sent to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. Since then, he had come between Katherine and me again. To be honest, I had been waiting for them to come clean with me. But they never actually crossed the line, not even once. They only had more and more things in common, and as days went by, I found it harder to understand what they were talking about. For example, after the gathering today, I had only bent over to fix my shoelaces, but they had refused to wait a mere dozen seconds for me. By the time I straightened up, the two had already disappeared around the corner. … Early the next morning, I went straight to the office. Chapter 3 I submitted my resignation letter and handover documents to the HR Department. On my way out, I bumped into Mark, who put a friendly arm over my shoulder. "I can't believe that after all this time, Katherine still can't remember that you're allergic to mangoes! I gave her a good scolding last night for you." He raised an eyebrow at me. He seemed to be anticipating my response. I subconsciously wanted to reply, "But she remembered that you have gastric problems, so you can't have iced drinks." But after thinking about it, I decided it would come off as too jealous. So, in the end, I just shrugged his arm off. "We didn't get into a fight. I'm just a little tired." Mark didn't seem to have sensed my intention to keep a distance from him. He gave me a concerned look. "Rest up, then. I'll treat you to a feast tonight!" Looking at his bright smile, I suddenly found it too much to bear. In the past, I thought that since Mark came to Ardenbrook alone to seek help from me, I didn't mind compromising a little as long as he was happy. But back then, I had come to an unfamiliar city on my own as well. Aside from Katherine, I had no friends or family here. At least, Mark had me to look after him when he first got here. Later on, he even had Katherine pampering him. "It's okay. I have something else going on at night," I declined expressionlessly, then turned and headed back to my desk. As soon as I sat down, a message popped up in the department group chat. It was a message from Katherine. "Congratulations, Mark, on your third anniversary with us. Teatime snacks are on me." Right after that, she sent a screenshot of an order. She had ordered exclusive desserts from a top-tier bakery, which was almost always sold out. I just managed to get some last weekend. After a single glance at the desserts, Katherine had asked me, "Do men like these too?" Back then, I hadn't realized that she had other intentions in mind. I excitedly told her all about the signature desserts the bakery had to offer. As it turned out, Katherine was already planning to get desserts from that bakery to celebrate Mark's anniversary. Mark was smiling blissfully with people fawning over him. Katherine stood right next to him, gazing at him with a gentle look in her eyes. At that moment, I suddenly realized that they were the real couple here. As for me, I was just an outsider who accidentally barged into their world. Mark handed me a slice of cake, grinning as he said, "I reserved this especially for you. It's the most expensive item here." No matter how expensive it was, it still couldn't compare to how much Katherine spent on treating the whole department for his sake. I didn't want to be a wet blanket, so I thanked him. Mark then proceeded to ask me for help. "There's this proposal I haven't completed, but it's due in a few days. Victor, please get it done for me, okay?" With that, he tossed the document right onto my desk. He seemed confident that I would silently take over all his work and willingly credit him like I used to do. Light reflected off the surface of Mark's new watch. It was getting too much to bear. I shook my head. "I'm busy. I can't help you." He widened his eyes. "Victor, are you mad at me? You never said no to me!" Katherine immediately noticed that something was off. Pulling Mark behind her, she shouted, "Victor, what's wrong with you?" Chapter 4 I calmly explained the situation to Katherine. I even felt somewhat malicious as I anticipated watching Mark get told off. After all, Katherine hated people who shirked their responsibilities and stole credit at work. She herself had experienced a lot of mistreatment when she was just starting out. But now, she just gave me a cold glance. "Mark is your superior. Do you think you're in any position to decline work assigned to you? You joined the company early on, but even now, you're still an ordinary employee. Have you ever wondered why? Well, I'll tell you. It's because you're too petty, and you start making excuses as soon as you have work to do!" That had to be the most absurd thing I've ever heard. My colleagues in my batch were all promoted, even if their performance wasn't as good as mine. I was the only one who was still running around in circles. The newer employees might not understand what was going on, but could Katherine really have been so clueless? Mark nudged Katherine. "If Victor doesn't want to help, that's fine. It's not like I can't do it myself." But Katherine hadn't gotten over it. "Victor, if you still refuse to change your ways, it may be necessary for me to—" I cut her off. "Let's break up." The whole office plunged into silence. Katherine's eyes widened. "What did you just say?" Looking her in the eye, I said slowly, "I said, 'Let's break up.'" Mark looked surprised. "Victor, what's gotten into you? Katherine has been nothing but nice to you…" Ignoring him, I got up to leave. Katherine gripped my wrist with surprising might. "Victor, why do you keep pulling these dirty tricks?" I was confused. "What do you mean?" She scoffed. "You said you wanted to break up, but I know you just wanted to let the whole company know that we're dating. Didn't I tell you that there's no need to make it public in case someone misunderstands?" I looked down at my wrist, which was turning red from her grasp. I suddenly felt exhausted. It always turned out like this. As soon as I complained even a little bit, I would be considered immature, sulking, and out of my mind. But if Mark so much as frowned, Katherine would treat it like an emergency. I shook off her hand and took a step back. "Well, we've broken up now, so you don't have to worry about people thinking you pulled some strings for me." As soon as I got off work, I went back to the apartment and began packing up. I had lived in this house for five years. I had thrifted the couch back when we were staying in a rented apartment. Later on, when we moved to our new place, I still couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. After all, it had witnessed my life with Katherine as we worked hard for a better future. I had also searched through every store for the perfect curtains with the best value for money. The photo we had taken together when we had just moved in was still hanging on the wall. In the photo, Katherine had a paintbrush in her hand while I held a broom. We were dirty, but our smiles were bright and radiant. After all, we had just gotten a new home, and we had finally settled down in a new city. I took the photo out of its frame. Then, I shredded it and tossed the pieces into the trash can. Chapter 5 I had a week to handle the handover before I could officially leave. I decisively booked a one-week stay at a hotel near the company. After news of our breakup spread, I felt like my colleagues were gradually regarding me in a different light. Maybe because they actually thought I was dead weight who had gotten in through some connections, they began targeting me. They pushed trivial tasks like photocopying documents and making coffee onto me. Jade knew the actual reason behind my resignation, so she would speak up for me whenever she saw someone mistreating me. However, the rumors were getting out of hand. Some even said that I broke up with Katherine because I managed to win Jade over and was depending on her instead. They didn't care that Jade was already married and that she truly cared about every one of her colleagues. People were ostracizing me even more than before. But Katherine never spoke up for me. She might not have noticed, or she could be letting this happen as punishment for my insolence. But three days later, Katherine had a foul look on her face as she slammed a document onto my desk. "Victor, what kind of a proposal is this? This is a total mess!" Puzzled, I flipped through the proposal only to find out that I was listed as the Project Lead. But I was leaving the company soon, and I didn't take on any new projects. I was about to say something when Mark slid in between us with an apologetic look on his face. "Katherine, it's not Victor's fault. I'm the one to blame." When Katherine heard that, she just gave me a cold look. "Did you think I'd let you off just because Mark is offering to take the blame for you? The client found your proposal completely unacceptable, so you can forget about your bonuses for the next three months!" I had never seen this proposal before. But now that something went wrong, she shifted all the blame to me. My colleagues' stares seemed to bore into me. Some were whispering among themselves while others seemed to be gloating. I firmly met Katherine's gaze. "I did not write a single letter in that proposal." Lowering her voice, Katherine said to me, "You're just an ordinary employee, so it's fine if you get punished a little. But Mark is different. I just recommended him for a promotion to supervisor, so if they find out he's lacking competence right now, the higher-ups will have him demoted. Please help Mark and me out just this once." When I saw how anxious she was to defend Mark, I knew then that it was truly over. Mark gave me an apologetic glance, but he didn't speak up for me. I suddenly smiled. "Fine." I decided I would do it to repay him for drinking in my stead that one time. Because I had taken the blame, I was blacklisted by the higher-ups and terminated with immediate effect. I was called into the boss's office at 3:00 pm. She told me, "To be honest, Beckett, you're far too good for this company anyway." She rescinded my resignation and converted it into a paid termination. After signing the new contract, I thanked her. When the workday was over, I was the last to leave. I dumped everything on my desk into the trash can. I had just arrived at the hotel when I received messages from Katherine and Mark, sent almost at the same time. They said they had planned to treat me to a grand meal as compensation, and the venue would be a date-night spot. It was a viral restaurant where they shared countless dinners for two in the past. Every time they came back, they would explain to me that it was because the date-night dinners there had the best value for money, and they didn't have any other intentions. But Katherine never took me there, not even once. I could only look at Mark's social media posts in envy and listen to his rants. I didn't respond to their messages. Instead, I took a cab straight to the airport. Before I boarded the plane, the two were still reminding me about the date. They said they had a surprise for me. The messages were getting annoying, so I blocked them both. Six years ago, with flight tickets in hand, I didn't even hesitate as I headed toward an unfamiliar city, determined to forge a path in life with Katherine. Six years later, Katherine found Mark, and she no longer had a place for me in her heart. As for me, I decided that it was time to go home.