Ch. The Group Chat Without Me, The Life They Had Without Me 7 The Group Chat Without Me, The Life They Had Without Me 7

Chapter 7 

The first month after the breakup was more peaceful than I had expected. 

My new apartment was small but clean. 

When I came home from work, no one asked what time I would be back, and no one expected me to 

call maintenance for them. 

I helped at the flower shop on weekends, and Dana occasionally brought her daughter with her. 

The little girl was five and never stopped talking. 

She called me Nora and constantly begged me to teach her how to fold paper roses. 

My life slowly began to take on a new shape. 

That lasted until the forty-third day. 

On my way home from work, I saw Dylan at the subway station. 

He saw me too. After hesitating, he walked over. 

“Nora.” 

“Yes?” 

“Long time no see.” 

“Yeah.” 

He stood beside me, clearly wanting to say something but unsure how to begin. 

When the train arrived, I stepped inside. 

He followed me. 

“Nora, Caleb hasn’t been doing well lately.” 

I held on to an overhead strap and kept my eyes forward. 

“That has nothing to do with me anymore.” 

“I know you’re angry.” 

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“But he really regrets what happened. He’s lost more than ten pounds, and he’s been having 

trouble at work-” 

“Dylan.” 

He stopped. 

“Do you remember what you said in that group chat?” 

His face reddened slightly. 

“I ” 

“Last Memorial Day weekend, I asked Caleb whether we could go somewhere together. He said you had a basketball game.” 

“In the group chat, you wrote, ‘Just tell her we have a game. She’ll believe it.”” 

He lowered his head. 

“Nora, I wasn’t thinking.” 

“None of you were thinking,” I said. “But when you put it all together, it lasted more than two 

years.” 

The train reached my stop, and I got off. 

Dylan didn’t follow. 

After I got home, I sat on the couch for a while. 

Dylan had said Caleb wasn’t doing well. 

He had lost more than ten pounds and was having trouble at work. 

I searched myself for some reaction. 

There was a faint trace of sympathy, but that was all. 

It felt like reading about something bad happening to a stranger, I knew it was unfortunate, but it 

had nothing to do with me. 

That feeling confirmed something for me. 

The love I had felt for four years had been real. 

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But it was truly dead. 

The next morning, my coworker Jamie Cole hurried over as soon as I arrived at the office. 

“The department head reviewed that proposal from yesterday. They said it was excellent, and they want you to present it at next week’s staff meeting.” 

I froze for a moment, then smiled. 

“Okay. I’ll get ready.” 

I put my job search on hold. 

My new manager was easier to work with than my previous one, and the projects were interesting 

I decided to stay a little longer. 

At lunch, I received a message from an unknown number. 

Trevor: [Nora, this is Trevor. Caleb gave me your number. Sorry to bother you. He asked me to tell you that he deleted the entire group chat history and that everyone has apologized. He wants to know if you’ll meet with him.] 

I looked at the message and couldn’t help laughing. 

Even the apology had to be relayed through someone else. 

Even asking to see me had to go through a friend. 

After four years, every conversation between Caleb and me still had someone standing in the 

middle. 

Me: [No need. Thanks.] 

Trevor didn’t send anything else. 

As I was leaving work that evening, Caleb finally called me himself. 

I answered. 

“Nora.” 

“Yes?” 

“Can I see you?” 

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“Say whatever you need to say.” 

“I can’t explain it properly over the phone.” 

“Try.” 

He was silent for a moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse. 

“I created the group chat.” 

My grip tightened around the phone. 

“I created it after a get-together two years ago.” 

“You left early that day, and everyone suddenly relaxed. We had a great time.” 

“I thought… maybe we could do that once in a while.’ 

“So you created a group chat, added everyone, and used it specifically to plan things without me.” 

“At first, I honestly didn’t mean any harm. It was only once or twice.” 

“Then it became a habit.” 

“Nora, I know it was wrong. I know.” 

“What exactly do you know was wrong?” 

“We shouldn’t have hidden it from you.” 

“The problem wasn’t whether you hid it.” 

He fell silent again. 

“Caleb, let me ask you something.” 

“Go ahead.” 

“If I hadn’t seen that notification, when were you planning to tell me?” 

He didn’t answer. 

The answer was obvious: never. 

“I understand.” 

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“Nora-” 

“There’s nothing else to say. I’m hanging up.” 

“Wait, Nora. I… I miss you.” 

His voice was quiet, as though it had taken a great deal of effort to say those words. 

I closed my eyes. 

“Caleb, you don’t miss me.” 

“You miss having someone call maintenance for you, take in your packages, and remember your 

sister’s birthday.” 

“That isn’t-” 

“Yes, it is. You miss having things taken care of. You don’t miss me.’ 

I ended the call. 

Then I blocked his number. 

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