When the Rain Stopped, I Left

After dinner with my college roommates at a restaurant in the Old Harbor district, the rain came down hard without warning. We huddled under the awning, pulling our coats tight, calling our boyfriends one by one.My friend Maya nudged my shoulder with a grin. "Your guy chased you so hard the entire school knew about it. He'll definitely be the first one here." "Right? Four years of college. Hot coffee delivered to your door on rainy days, your bike path shoveled clean in the snow, and whenever you didn't feel like getting up for class, he'd organize the professor's lecture notes and send them straight to your inbox." "That year you had your senior exhibition and came down with a high fever, he stayed with you in the studio for three days. Made you soup, fixed your models, stayed up so late his eyes were bloodshot. Evelyn, I honestly thought you'd found yourself a fairy-tale prince." They chattered on about my love life. Before long, their boyfriends all showed up with umbrellas. When they glanced my way, their expressions faltered. "How come Noah isn't here yet? Isn't your apartment just across the river?" I smiled and held up my phone. "He said something came up at the office." Maya asked her boyfriend to drop me off first. I sat in the back seat, spotted a familiar figure standing outside the pet grooming salon on the corner. He was cradling a silver-gray longhaired cat in his arms. The cat was wrapped in a soft little wool blanket. He was shielding even its ear tips, terrified of letting a single drop of rain touch it. It was Noah. The cat in his arms belonged to his childhood neighbor, Selena. This wasn't the first time Noah had left me stranded in the rain for that cat.Another message from Noah. "Babe, the rain's too heavy. Wait until it lets up and then call a car home. Don't be stubborn. You won't get wet that way." What he didn't know was that from the day Selena moved to this city last year, I had already been soaked through. Chapter 1 The car stopped at the entrance to our apartment complex. The security guard wouldn't let unregistered vehicles into the underground garage. Maya, worried I'd get drenched, rolled down her window to argue with him. I held her back and shook my head. "It's fine. The lobby isn't far. Thanks for the ride tonight." I pushed open the car door and dashed into the downpour. The rain hammered down like gravel, stinging my face. It was only a few hundred feet, but by the time I made it into the apartment lobby, my coat was plastered to my body and the blouse underneath was soaked through. I kept my head down so the neighbors in the elevator wouldn't see the state I was in, went inside, and headed straight for the bathroom. Hot water poured over my head, washing away the chill and the tears I had been holding back for so long. Maya must have seen it just now. Seen that the Evelyn the entire campus had envied for four years couldn't even get someone to bring her an umbrella. Back in college, Noah had been the most famous perfect boyfriend on campus. Every year, the alumni forum voted on "Most Swoon-Worthy Partner," and his name always topped the list. Seattle was a rainy city. Once it started, it could go on for half a month. I hated the rain. Mud would splash onto my hem, my leather shoes would warp, my hair would stick to my neck. The damp cold made everything miserable. Back then, Noah would clean my boots, dry my coat, pour hot coffee into a thermos, and wait for me outside the dorm. The campus drainage was terrible, and he always carried me across the worst of the flooded cobblestones. Whenever the sun came out, everyone would lay their blankets on the lawn to dry. I never had to. Noah would have already taken my blanket up to the rooftop terrace first thing in the morning, claiming the sunniest spot for me. Those years, everyone said the same thing. "Evelyn, what more could you possibly want?" I used to think so too. Until Selena came to this city. She kept showing up in our lives, always as the childhood neighbor. On a rare weekend off, she'd say her fireplace wouldn't light. On our anniversary dinner, she'd say her kitchen pipes were leaking. On Christmas Eve, she'd say she was too lonely in the city all by herself. Her most frequent excuse was the cat she and Noah had rescued from a barn when they were kids. When I came out of the bathroom, my phone lit up. It was a message from Maya. "I went back and forth about it, but I think you should know. When I was heading to the dinner this afternoon, I ran into Noah at the riverside park. There was a woman next to him, holding a cat." She sent a photo after that. In the photo, Selena was crouched by the grass, playing with the cat. Noah stood behind her, holding her jacket, looking down at her with a tenderness so soft it could melt. Anyone who saw it would read too much into it. So Maya had already seen my humiliation. No wonder at dinner, while the others were reminiscing about how good Noah was to me, Maya alone had held my hand and said, "Our Evelyn is smart, beautiful, and deserves to be loved properly." The ache in my chest swelled again. The lock clicked. Noah was home. I gave him a flat look and turned toward the open kitchen. He followed me in, wrapped his arms around me from behind, rested his chin on my shoulder, and spoke in that low, carefully measured tenderness he always knew how to deploy. "Throwing a little tantrum again? The second I walked in, I knew you'd pick a fight. "I didn't pick you up, so your girlfriends were talking behind my back, right?" I said nothing. He chuckled and kept going on his own. "Probably not. After all, they saw how well I spoiled you back then. They're probably taking my side. Am I right?" A wave of nausea surged up my throat. I shoved him away. Chapter 2 Noah stumbled back half a step and nearly hit the cabinet behind him. He blinked, and annoyance quickly flickered across his face. "Evelyn, what are you doing? I come home and try to make things right, and you have to blow up like this? "Every time, I'm the one who has to bend. Every time, you're impossible to please. Do you know how exhausting that is? "I didn't want to stay late either. What, should I quit my job and revolve around you twenty-four hours a day? Would that make you happy?" The more he talked, the more righteous he sounded. I watched him quietly, then spoke softly. "I'm allergic to cat fur. Did you forget?" He froze. The tips of his ears flushed with guilt. "I didn't lie to you on purpose. I just didn't want you overthinking things again. "Selena had something come up and asked me to take Oscar to the grooming salon for a bath. It was pouring outside. I couldn't just let her stand there alone holding the cat, waiting for a ride." "You don't have to explain all that," I cut him off. "Just stay away from me." Noah's expression darkened. He pressed his lips together and said after a long pause, "I'm going to take a shower." Soon, the sound of running water came from the bathroom. I brewed myself a cup of hot spiced tea. The scent of cinnamon and honey spread through the kitchen. When he came out, I was setting the cup on the dining table. Noah walked over, acting as if nothing had happened, and pushed the cup toward me. "Babe, have something warm. Next time, I'll come get you. I promise." Then he tried to lift the cup to my lips. I had just turned my head away when the doorbell rang. Before Noah could reach the door, whoever was outside had already punched in the passcode. I narrowed my eyes. The next second, Selena walked in with the cat in her arms. She had auburn curls, Noah's old cashmere scarf draped over her shoulders, and her wet heeled boots planted on the entryway rug. She pouted and shot Noah an irritated look. "The rain is awful. It'll take at least an hour to get back to the West Side. I'm staying here tonight. You don't mind, right?" As she spoke, she propped one foot up on the shoe bench. Noah smiled. He crouched down, unbuckled her boots, then took out his own slippers from the shoe cabinet and set them at her feet. "Of course not. Stay as long as you want." "That's more like it." Selena looked down and stroked the cat. "Did Oscar get his bath?" Noah asked. "Obviously. You were supposed to stay with him the whole time. Instead you snuck off home without even telling me and left our boy all alone in there." The cat meowed as if it understood, soft and plaintive. Selena immediately clutched it tighter, all motherly concern. "Some friend you are, ditching your own boy for a pretty face. No Oscar kisses for you for a whole week." Noah raised both hands in surrender, laughing. Selena lifted her chin and beckoned him with a crooked finger. Noah immediately leaned in. The next second, Selena flicked him on the forehead without hesitation, her tone playful and far too familiar. "See if you dare do it again." Only then, as if she had just noticed me, did she blink in exaggerated surprise. "Oh, Evelyn's here too? Come help me teach him a lesson." I calmly finished the last sip of my tea, stood up, and went into the study. The door didn't close all the way, and the voices outside carried through clearly. "Is she upset? Maybe I should go. I'd rather walk in the rain than put up with dirty looks in someone else's home." Noah stopped her, his voice low but tender. "She's only mad at me, not you. Besides, in this rain, if you leave now, I'll just have to drag myself out to drive you home. Do me a favor and take the guest room for the night." He coaxed and cajoled until Selena finally agreed to the guest room. Then he pushed open the study door. The tenderness on his face was gone. All that remained was impatience. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Evelyn, can you not be so difficult?" Chapter 3 I looked up at him. Noah took a deep breath, as if fighting to hold back his anger. "When your friends come over, don't I always prepare wine and dinner? So why is it that when it comes to Selena, you can't even manage basic courtesy? "You're really embarrassing me." "Embarrassing you?" I laughed despite myself. "A woman moving into your place in the middle of the night isn't embarrassing? Her calling you every time she needs something isn't embarrassing? If she needs a man to take care of her that badly, why doesn't she go find a boyfriend of her own?" "She's a friend I grew up with. What's the big deal about one night?" Noah rubbed his face in frustration, his voice finally slipping past his control. "We're about to get engaged, and you're still this paranoid. What, once we're married I'm not allowed to have friends? I have to devote my entire life to you and no one else before it counts as loyalty?" Right then, Selena's voice drifted from the direction of the guest room. "Noah, the bathroom's out of shower gel. Bring me a bottle, will you?" I let out a cold laugh. Noah frowned. "What's so funny now?" "You call me paranoid. Then tell me, why didn't she ask me to bring it? She knows full well you have a fiancée, and she still pulls this to prove she can summon you whenever she wants." Noah faltered for a moment, then jumped to her defense on instinct. "Selena isn't like that. She only didn't ask you because she knows you have a problem with her. She didn't want to bother you." The way he looked at me carried a new shade of disappointment. "Your own mind is in the gutter, so everything looks dirty to you. Don't assume everyone thinks the way you do." With that, he turned and walked out. I watched his back and felt my heart go completely cold. One of them crossed the line on purpose. The other pretended not to see it. A perfect match. If he refused to wake up, then it was time to cut my losses on eight years of love. I opened my laptop and navigated to the company's internal transfer portal. Without a moment's hesitation, I signed my name onto the roster for the Barcelona harbor restoration project. That night, I packed my things and moved out. When I wheeled my suitcase into the living room, Selena and Noah were both there. Selena was draped across the sofa in a silk nightgown so thin it left nothing to the imagination, lazily directing Noah to massage her calves. Noah sighed and called her a nuisance, but his hand was already wrapped around her ankle. When he noticed me, his brows furrowed again. "Evelyn, I call you out once and you're running away from home? Seriously?" Selena laughed out loud and nudged him with her foot. "That's what you get for spoiling her. I always said you can't just sweet-talk a woman. You need to set rules." Whether it was her words that got to him or something else, Noah's face turned stony. He spoke through gritted teeth. "Evelyn, if you walk out that door, don't even think about coming back." I nodded. "That's exactly what I had in mind." I closed the door behind me. I called a car and headed for a hotel near the office. My transfer was only days away anyway. There was no point renting a new place. Noah and I worked at the same international design firm, just in different departments. Over the next few days, we didn't exchange a single word. Until I was delivering documents past the urban data department and he cornered me at the stairwell landing. "Still not over it?" He trapped me against the wall, dark eyes tinged with something between hurt and resentment. "You won't come home, you won't answer my messages. Evelyn, you've really taken it too far this time." He leaned down toward me, the way he had countless times before, trying to melt my resolve with closeness. "Forget it. I won't hold it against you. Move back in tonight." I pushed against his chest, but he didn't budge. All I could do was look him straight in the eye. "Noah, we're done."