Greed

chapter 25

Sky POV

HE NEVER SHOWED.
The party wrapped up early because of an impending thunderstorm that drove people home before they got caught in the flash flood, but I didn't mind. The grand opening was already a smashing success, and I'd exhausted my social battery for the night.

Plus, it was hard to smile and pretend nothing was wrong when my heart was breaking before it fully healed.
"Maybe he got in an accident," Rain said. "He could be in the hospital right now, trying to tear off his IV so he can run out and see you.

I'm sure he didn't forget."

"rain." phan glared at him. "Don't joke about something like that."

"What? Stranger things have happened." Rain drew his bottom lip between his teeth. "I don't buy that Prapai forgot or chose not to come.
Not after everything he did to win Sky back."

"You two." pleng pointed at phayu and Saifah, who froze in unison. No one wanted to be the target of him ire.

"Where's your friend?"

"He hasn't answered our calls." phayu recovered first and gave me a reassuring smile. "I'm sure he's on his way. He probably got held up."

"Or mugged," Saifah said. He shrugged when phan redirected her death stare at him. "I'm sorry, but it's a possibility."

Guys, it's okay." Exhaustion drained my vocabulary to the bare necessities. "It's not your problem. Go home. I'll clean up."

"I'll help." pleng grabbed a trash bag.
"No," I said firmly. "You've done enough."
"But- " "You can't- " Despite their protests, I forced my friends out the door minutes later. I appreciated their concern, but I wanted to be alone.

I went through the motions of throwing out trash and storing leftovers in the fridge. It was like watching someone cosplay me; he looked like me and moved like me, but he didn't feel like me. He was a stranger cosplaying my dream life.

I paused in front of the collage I'd spent weeks painstakingly creating. It took up the entire right wall. Bright, vibrant petals gradually faded to muted browns that dominated the center of the piece before a hint of color crept back into the canvas.
Life, death, rebirth. It wasn't subtle, but I didn't want it to be. I wanted it as a reminder of what I'd left and what I never wanted to fall back into again.

"ky."
My spine stiffened at the voice behind me. I should've locked the door, but I'd been too distracted by Prapai's presence. My self-preservation instincts went right out the window the instant he entered the picture.

"You're late." I didn't turn, afraid that if I did, I would start crying and never stop.
"Sweetheart- " "No, wait. That's wrong." Disillusionment splintered the rhythm of my words. "You're not late; you never showed. The party is over, Prapai. You don't need to be here."

"Yes, I do." His presence brushed my back, heavy with regret, and I closed my eyes against a fall of tears as his hand gently touched my arm.

"Because you're here."

"Then where were you before? Were you at work?"

Silence.
"Yes or no, P'pai ."
Another, deeper silence chipped at the pieces of my heart. Then, so quietly I almost didn't hear him, "Yes."

A tear dripped off my chin, and the browns in the centerpiece blurred into one amorphous monster that colored every shade of my world.
When would I learn?