Chapter 3 - Three Years Too Late
The silence on the line stretched so long that Maya checked her phone to make sure the call hadn't dropped. The timer read twelve seconds. Every tick felt like a hammer blow against her ribs. Zoe watched her intently, leaning against the grey tufted ottoman with her hands jammed deep into the pockets of her denim jacket.
"Maya?" Corey’s voice finally broke through the quiet, sounding rough, as if he had just woken from a deep sleep. "Maya, is this actually you? Where are you?"
"I'm... I'm in the city," Maya managed to say, her voice barely a whisper. She looked down at the white strapless wedding dress, the expensive silk suddenly feeling like a shroud. "I'm at a bridal boutique on Fifth."
"A bridal boutique," Corey repeated, the words flat, devoid of immediate emotion. Then, a low, humorless chuckle escaped his lips. "Right. Of course you are. You're getting married. Isaiah, right? The architect. The safe bet."
Maya flinched, the words echoing Isaiah’s earlier warning. "How did you know about Isaiah?"
"People talk, Maya. Mutual friends. Social media algorithms love a good suburban fairytale." Corey sighed heavily, the sound full of a heavy, exhausted cynicism. "Why are you calling me? If you're standing in a wedding dress trying on veils, the last thing you should be doing is dialing an ex from three years ago. Unless... did something happen with the wedding?"
"Everything happened," Zoe blurted out, stepping into range of the phone’s microphone. "She just blew up her entire engagement five minutes ago, Corey. So don't act so high and mighty."
"Zoe?" Corey recognized her voice instantly. "Are you there too? Look, I don't know what kind of game—"
"It's not a game," Maya interrupted, her voice gaining a desperate strength. "Isaiah heard me, Corey. He heard me tell Zoe that I wasn't in love with him like I was with you. He walked out. He told me to call you. He told me to tell you the dress fits."
Another long pause. When Corey spoke again, his voice had changed entirely, dropping an octave. "He said that? Isaiah said that to you?"
"Word for word," Maya whispered, her eyes fixed on the bruised pink peonies lying abandoned on the floor.
May you like
"Then he’s smarter than I gave him credit for," Corey said quietly. "Because he knows you're still standing in my shadow."
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