Page 3 of Miles

Thank you for everything you have offered this company. Whimsy Willow wishes you the best in your future endeavors.

Numbly, I reach for my phone.

I need to call Collin.

Except, I pause when I see three text messages back to back. Marissa moves back to her desk as I open them one by one.

Collin

I was just fired. Call me when you can.

Mom

*attached image* Why am I learning this from Rick? What the fuck? I raised you better than this!

Unknown Number

Checkmate, Princess. Marissa fed me all the info I needed on you.

At the last text, my head snaps up to Marissa… only to find her smirking in my direction. “That Rick? I gave him your latest number.”

The world spins around me as I look at her. I utter the only word I can. “Why?”

She shrugs as she tosses her blonde hair over her shoulder. She goes to walk out of our—no, her—office, but pauses to say, “I deserved that promotion. Not some slut who moans for a camera and cheats on her ex-fiancé for fun. Karma is a bitch, huh?”

As she walks out of the room, my phone buzzes continuously with notifications.

Mom.

Dad.

Collin.

Brianna.

Monica.

Jay.

I ignore all of them.

I’m stuck staring at the empty space no longer occupied by Marissa, completely and utterly heartbroken, with my world turned upside down all before 10 A.M.

TWO

MILES

1 YEAR LATER

A tired sigh escapes me as I admire the sunset lining the horizon of the ranch, hat placed on Macy’s saddle in respect for the occasion. Orange, pink, and yellow bleeds into the sky, and while it’s a sight that I would normally cherish, a painful longing hollows my chest.

No matter how much time has passed, or how many chores and tasks I add to my roster—trying to bury the thoughts and memories of the past—the agony still comes.

Death is funny like that.

Mourning is funny like that.

But what kind of man would I be if I didn’t watch the sunset with my one true love every year on our designated days?