No One Else (Asa Butterfield)

Seven

I headed to work the next morning and ran into Kelly, my stressed out, emotionally unstable manager. She was shorter than me, and had long dark brown hair. Her skin was pale, and she always put on a little too much eye shadow.

"Hey. Long time no see." She greeted me.

"It has been, stranger." I replied.

"Did you do something new with your hair?"

"No." I walked past her.

She always tried to strike a personal conversation with me, and I dodged her every time. Kelly hated being asked about her personal life but wanted to know who and what everyone else was doing. I caught her countless times looking over my phone while I was texting someone, and ever since then the brightness on my phone was at its lowest at work.  

The library was slowly getting busier because finals week was 3 weeks away. Some students were hard at work on their laptops while others were on their phone with all of their materials scattered across the table, occasionally sipping their iced coffee. I sat behind the checkout desk, fiddling with my name tag and watched the entrance.

Subconsciously, I waited for Miles to walk through the entrance doors with a bag of food, kiss-me and tell me he loved me.

"Are you okay?" Kelly appeared next to me.

"I'm just going through something personal." I responded, still staring at the door.

"Well, I'm here if you want to talk. You have my number." She gave me an awkward pat on my shoulder.

I never texted Kelly outside of work unless it was to tell her that I was late or that I wasn't going to come to work.

"Do you mind taking these books to the back? We can put them back in the shelves later after this first batch. You can take your break after that."

The thought of eating anything made me feel sick. In an attempt to eat, I reached into my purse and opened up two saran wrapped conchas, stared at them both and put them back in my purse.

Kelly let me go home early that day, and I wasn't sure if it was because I wouldn't tell her why I was upset or if she genuinely felt bad for me. Either way, I stormed out of there right after I clocked out. I checked Miles' location, and he was close to where I was. He was taking the route he usually takes when he goes to Gabe's.

Do I need something from Gabe's? I thought to myself. I did need to stock up on some cereal and vanilla yogurt cups.

Next thing I knew, I was in the Gabe's parking lot preparing to go inside and catch a glimpse of Miles-and stock up on some groceries. I was hoping that he wouldn't see me and if he did, he'd realize how much he missed me. I hope he realizes how miserable, uneventful and lonely his life is without me. I walked out of my car and headed toward the entrance. I made my way toward the cereal aisle. William was working that day and I ran into him in the same aisle.

"Hey William, how's everything?" He was putting way groceries from a cart back on the shelves.

"I'm here for another 4 hours and my day off isn't until next week. I hope that answers your question." We both chuckled.

"Hey, at least you're four hours into your shift, you're halfway done." I replied.

"What are you looking for?"

"Some cereal. Anything with chocolate."

"You have good taste." He chuckled. 

I turned and saw Miles entering the aisle. He was wearing a blue shirt and dark jeans with a pair of black and white sneakers. His hair slicked back, covered in gel. I speed walked to the opposite direction so he wouldn't see me.

"I'll see you later, I guess!" I heard William yell from behind me.

I quickly turned to the next aisle and peek over to see what Miles was going to buy. I caught a glimpse of his basket which had chips, popcorn and a bottle of soda. He was staring at the boxes of granola, picking one box and putting back the other. His basket was on the floor next to him.

Was it for him? Or was he inviting someone over? I thought.

He left the cereal aisle and headed towards the register. I watched him as he left and went up to the register to check out my items. I greeted the woman checking out my groceries and she didn't respond. She was average height, middle-aged and was obnoxiously chewing gum as if she had something stuck in her teeth. I grabbed my groceries and left.

I sat in my car, thinking of scenarios that would explain why Miles would buy groceries as if he was inviting some people over. I scrolled through his social media and he hadn't mentioned anything about talking to someone or having some sort of get-together. The curiosity was killing me inside.

Was it possible that Miles had moved on that fast? Or that he did have someone else all along?

I had nothing else planned for the rest of the night, so I planned a risky mission to pass by Miles' house to see what was going on.

I drove home, put away my groceries and waited for the sun to set and for the moon to appear. I prepared an outfit consisting of all-black clothes in order to blend into the night as best as I could. The thought of Miles already moving on after our breakup made me sick to my stomach. The fact that I was here hurting for him while he was having the time of his life was something that I couldn't accept.

And I wasn't going to either.