Fiancé Discussed Academics With Childhood Friend at Wedding, I'm Done

1: 1

My best friend and my boyfriend were both Asperger's cases, high-IQ geniuses.

And I was the genius's tagalong.

At seven, they debated high school textbooks while I packed their backpacks.

At seventeen, they got early admission to the country's top university and casually picked me a second-rate school next door.

At twenty-five, they finished their doctorates and became the twin stars of the elite research institute, and I was the receptionist.

We shared an apartment, where I handled the meals and the cleaning and never once managed to break into their conversations.

Even my own wedding turned into a place for them to discuss an experiment.

"Ray Dickerson, the ceremony's starting."

I tugged Ray toward the stage, frantic.

"What?"

"The wedding..."

"I wasn't asking you."

Ray didn't look at me. He was watching my best friend.

"What was that parameter you just mentioned?"

Peggy Baxter soothed me in a low voice.

"Don't be difficult. We're in the middle of talking about the experiment. Just hold things together for now."

"It's only a wedding. Worst case, we throw another one some other day."

The two of them fell back into data I couldn't follow.

When they hit the exciting part, they left me and a hall full of guests behind.

Both of them rose in a hurry and rushed off toward the lab.

On their way out, they even knocked over the champagne tower.

Leaving me standing there, a mess.

But this time, I didn't clean up the wreckage the way I always had.

Throw another one? I didn't need it.

The genius's bride, I wasn't going to be that anymore.

...

At two in the morning, the lock at the entryway rattled.

The two of them pushed the door open, talking at no small volume.

Waking me up the moment I'd fallen asleep, without a second thought.

"Ray, see? I told you the parameter had to be tuned my way. It worked right away, didn't it!"

Ray, unwilling to concede, pinched Peggy's cheek.

"You just got lucky!"

When he saw me come out of the bedroom.

Ray dropped his clothes on the floor and said, offhand,

"Sally Henson, wash these for us."

"And make us a bowl of ramen. Peg's hungry too."

He didn't seem to care in the slightest how today's wedding had ended.

"I'm tired."

The words came out of me abruptly. The first time I ever refused.

Ray froze.

Peggy rammed her shoulder hard into him and made a face.

"Idiot! Your EQ is so low! Can't you tell Sally's upset?"

"You ignored her all day for the experiment, and now she's angry!"

Then she pinched him hard on the chest and laughed.

"There, there! I punished him for you, so stop being mad, girl!"

Ray hissed and pressed his fingers wearily to his brow.

"Sally, we're exhausted from the experiments. Can't you give us a little peace?"

"It's only a wedding. How could it matter more than our research progress? Nobody cares about that thing except the bride."

"Worst case, we throw an even better one to make up for it."

But I'd lost count of how many times this had happened.

Two years ago, on our graduation trip, the three of us.

I waited seven hours for them at an airport in a foreign country.

In the end Ray told me they'd lost track of time doing an experiment.

A year ago, at the engagement dinner.

Peggy said an instrument was acting up and called Ray away, leaving me to handle the aftermath alone.

From half a year ago until now, I'd set four dates with Ray to register our marriage, and been stood up every time.

Every time, Ray said he couldn't get away from the lab.

In their world of research, everything about me was always beside the point.

"What do you mean, it's only a wedding?"

Not even my challenge reached anyone.

Because the two of them had already started talking over a stack of materials again.

Everyone envied me for having a fianc and a best friend who'd both made something of themselves.

But me, I really didn't want to be this invisible person with no presence anymore.

Quietly, I opened my phone, sent out my rsum again, and bought a ticket to Northport.

2: 2

The next morning came with the typhoon and pouring rain.

I hurried downstairs to ride to work with Ray.

I was only a receptionist, but we did work at the same research institute.

Ray was already starting the car, talking with Peggy in the passenger seat about something.

I tapped anxiously on the window, but he didn't notice and just drove off.

"Ray, wait."

I chased after the car a few steps and slipped on the wet ground, scraping my elbow open.

Ray still didn't see me.

Whenever Peggy was around, he never could.

I wiped away the mud and blood however I could and ran for the subway station, biting through the pain.

Even so, I was late getting to the institute.

Ray and Peggy passed by shoulder to shoulder, and when he saw me the smile dropped from his face and his brow furrowed.

"Is this how you do your job at reception? Do you know what time it is?"

"Why didn't you wait for me this morning?"

I forced the question out through the hurt.

Before Ray could answer, Peggy jumped in first.

"It's not that Ray wouldn't wait for you, Sal. You wouldn't understand unless you did research, but every second matters in our experiments. We really can't waste time waiting."

She patted my shoulder, coaxing me softly.

Ray sighed too.

He looked at me helplessly, the way you'd look at a child who didn't know any better.

"You knew it was raining. Couldn't you have left earlier?"

"Ever since school I told you to have some discipline. Why do you never listen?"

"I don't expect you to make something of yourself like Peggy, but you can't even manage to be a decent receptionist?"

And yet, all those times Peggy forgot to bring her bag.

He was patient then.

He'd tease her with a smile, calling her a little genius at research and a scatterbrain in real life.

In that moment, I suddenly couldn't be bothered to argue.

The next second he jerked back and turned away, pretending he didn't know me at all.

Someone had come.

Ray said the institute didn't allow office romances, so he had to keep a strict distance from me.

But the colleague passing by stopped to tease him and Peggy.

"Oh ho, Dr. Dickerson, Dr. Baxter, if it isn't our institute's genius power couple."

"The lovebirds came in all sweet together again today, huh?"

I kept my head down, numb, already used to it.

At the institute, Ray and Peggy were the ones who matched.

Childhood friends, both brilliant, both doctors, the rising twin stars.

Until someone said, surprised,

"Who says Ray doesn't know how to treat a woman? Isn't Peggy's bag this season's new release? It's expensive and hard to get."

I stole a glance and froze.

Peggy's bag really was beautiful.

I'd mentioned that same bag to Ray.

But he'd bought me some off-brand knockoff online.

He said he was too busy to tell the difference.

And now the genuine limited-edition color was hanging on Peggy's shoulder.

"Hey, you, receptionist, can't you see Dr. Baxter and Dr. Dickerson are talking about work here?"

"Pour the tea. Not an ounce of sense."

I snapped back to myself and pushed down the sourness inside.

Answering quickly, I hurried over to pour the tea.

But just as Peggy got excited talking, she suddenly raised her hand, and the scalding tea spilled everywhere.

It ran down my cuff into my shirt, and the pain drained the color from my face.

Ray shoved me aside and carefully took Peggy's hand.

"Peggy! Are you all right?"

Once he'd made sure Peggy was fine,

he rushed to check the data materials on the table, going over them carefully.

Only then did he turn his eyes to me, his voice dropping.

"Can't you even pour tea right? Do you know those are the hands she does experiments with?"

"Come on, Ray, do you care about me or the experiment?"

Peggy pretended to pout.

Then she noticed the arm I was holding, an angry red spreading across it, and let out a gasp.

"Ray, Sally got burned, and it's a big patch. Go get the burn ointment, quick!"

Only then did Ray frown and pull my arm over to look.

Seeing no one around, he blew on it gently and lowered his voice.

"Does it hurt? Wait here, I'll get you some ointment."

But the burn ointment never came, not even by the end of the day.

Because Ray turned right around and went into the lab with Peggy.

And forgot this small thing.

3: 3

Soaked in the storm, then scalded, by that afternoon I'd spiked a high fever.

Maybe it was because I looked so awful.

For once, Ray wrapped up work early and drove me home.

Tonight, I planned to tell him properly: the wedding was off, and I was leaving too.

My head splitting, I thought about it in a fog.

We were only halfway there when Peggy, in the passenger seat, suddenly spoke up, all excited.

"Ray, change routes! There's actually a lecture by that senior scholar at Ashford University tonight! Let's go! It's exactly the direction we're researching!"

His dark eyes lit up.

"An opportunity this rare, we can't miss it."

"But... isn't Sally not feeling well? Should we drop her home first?"

Ray hesitated a few seconds and checked the time.

"No, the storm's got traffic snarled up. We won't make it."

"Sally, get out, take a cab home yourself. Don't worry, we'll be home to keep you company soon."

Before I'd even found my footing.

That black Audi couldn't pull away fast enough.

Burning with fever, I nearly collapsed on the roadside.

It took me two hours to drag myself home, drenched like a drowned rat.

The dishes from the weekend were still sitting in the sink.

The two great scientists' time was precious, so this housework fell to no one but me.

Once I'd only asked Peggy to hang up my laundry for me.

And Ray blew up at me over it.

Forget it. I was moving out anyway.

I did my best to ignore the filthy, cluttered apartment and lay down on the couch, exhausted.

By some coincidence, the algorithm pushed me the livestream of that very lecture Ray and Peggy had gone to hear.

It was like a foreign language. I couldn't understand a single word.

Until the Q&A, when Ray took Peggy's hand and walked up to the stage to ask a question.

A handsome man and a lovely woman, and the crowd below broke into cheers.

The host took the hint and asked right then,

"Are the two doctors together?"

Peggy answered, a little smug.

"We are. We've been classmates since kindergarten, and even our research direction is the same."

Some Ashford University students in the crowd grinned and egged them on.

"You two are so lucky, you must really have so much in common!"

Peggy nodded, beaming, and said,

"That's right, if you're looking for a partner, be sure to find someone walking the same road, someone you have things in common with!"

Ray spoke up too, which almost never happened.

"I agree with her. Don't pick someone who'll just be dead weight on your path through life."

Dead weight?

I let out a bitter laugh.

But people with Asperger's have trouble taking care of themselves.

In elementary school they couldn't tie their shoes, so I crouched down and did it for them.

In middle school they couldn't find their way or ride the bus, so I led them by the hand.

Even in college, I was the one who came by to clean the dorm on schedule, and the one who nursed them through every cold and fever.

For my best friend and my boyfriend, I'd all but lost a life of my own.

That day, the institute's celebrated twin stars actually started trending online.

From kindergarten to the research institute, every thread of Ray and Peggy's tangled history was laid bare.

The report cards and honor rolls where their names were always listed together, the talks where they always stood side by side.

The tied top scores in the state after the SATs, identical marks in every single subject.

Even their papers, a constant back-and-forth, today I break through yours, tomorrow you refute mine.

The two of them had practically become a byword for the perfect match.

No one noticed the small figure of me in the corner of every photo.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to stop watching.

Peggy and Ray, who'd said they'd come home early to look after me, never came home all night.

The next day, I finished drafting my resignation and got to the institute on time.

Only to find the mood around me deeply strange.

"The receptionist isn't even that pretty. And she's got the nerve to dream about being the other woman."

"She's got moves, though. Yesterday she was trailing right behind Dr. Dickerson, worming her way into their car."

"But get this, she got kicked out halfway there, ha, straight out of a revenge novel!"

It was only when I checked the group chat that I found out: someone had filmed a video of me bringing Ray his meal a while back.

In the video, his expression was cold, his attention entirely on Peggy.

It really did make me look like a scheming other woman throwing herself at him.

Just as I was about to go public and clear things up, Ray beat me to it and posted in the group chat.

"Sally Henson is my roommate, and she's Peggy's best friend."

The moment those words went up, the scornful looks only multiplied.

"Shameless. She actually tried to steal her best friend's man."

A cold went through me. I couldn't stop myself from tracking Ray down to confront him.

"Why didn't you say I'm the girlfriend you've been with for years? What do you mean, roommate?"

Ray closed his eyes for a moment, his voice cold.

"What do you want me to say? Everyone thinks Peggy and I are a couple!"

"The second I deny it, what will they think of Peggy? How many rumors would fly around?"

"From now on we'll keep our distance, just to avoid suspicion."

"Once we hold the wedding again and invite the coworkers, the truth will come out on its own."

So he did understand how much rumors could hurt.

So his mind wasn't entirely on his research after all.

He was capable of considering someone else. It just so happened that someone had never been me.

It didn't matter. There was never going to be a second wedding anyway.

4: 4

My last day at the institute was a night shift.

Near the end of the shift, the building's fire alarm suddenly went off.

Right behind it came the smoke, thick and choking.

Fire.

I understood almost at once.

It spread fast from the second-floor lab.

Within a few breaths the smoke had me choking so hard I couldn't move.

The flames swallowed the first floor and seared my arm.

I don't know how long it was before I saw someone rush in with a fire extinguisher.

It was Ray.

"Ray, I'm over here"

Pain and terror crashed over me all at once.

I used the last of my strength to grab the hem of his clothes, the way a drowning person grabs the only piece of driftwood.

But he didn't notice.

"Peg, where are you?"

In the last few seconds before I lost consciousness,

I heard him screaming Peggy's name, his voice raw.

I woke up in the hospital.

The burns on my neck and arm stung fiercely, and every small movement pulled at the nerves.

"It hurts so much"

Looking at Ray beside the bed, I felt as if a large hand had closed around my chest.

The helplessness of being cast aside again, the agony of lying half-dead in the firelight, brought the tears down before I could stop them.

"Why didn't you see me again?"

I heard how hoarse my own voice was, a thread of stubborn longing still in it.

But no answer came.

What came was Ray, his eyes red, hurling a cup at my head.

"What are you crying about?"

"Because you failed at your job, Peggy got hurt, the experiment data is gone, all that work from so many people is gone!"

The pain made me flinch, and my ears rang.

But Ray had lost all reason, and he roared at me:

"How is it you can't do a single thing right? You're useless at everything! You can't even work a front desk!"

"Why do you always have to be the dead weight!"

"The last patrol of the night, why didn't you do it?"

"The fire started in Lab 02 on the second floor. That's a restricted area, not part of my duties. Someone in the lab mishandled something, that's what"

Under the accusing eyes of the other coworkers in the ward, I forced the words out through the pain.

But the next second, Ray flew into an even greater rage.

Ignoring how weak I was after barely escaping with my life, he yanked me up by the collar.

"What are you saying! Are you framing Peggy?"

"Take a good look at her! She's your best friend!"

"Because of your mistake, you got her hurt, you lost the experiment data, and now you're smearing her. Do you have any conscience at all?"

Peggy kept her head down, tears falling fast, and said nothing.

I heard the other coworkers muttering:

"Exactly. What does any of this have to do with Dr. Baxter? Sally is really good at shifting blame. The nighttime safety check was her job."

"I'm not smearing anyone."

"Ray, you'll see the evidence."

I wiped my tears away as calmly as I could.

"The full cause of the fire will be in the investigation team's report."

"Nurse, I'd like these people out of my room."

I said it with the last of my strength.

In that moment, the heart of mine that ached seemed to go completely calm, completely at peace.

All the feelings and memories the three of us once shared,

it was as if they'd burned to ash along with that fire.

Seven days later, I was discharged.

This time the apartment was even filthier.

There was barely anywhere left to set foot.

I packed quickly and set out for Northport.

I'd just settled in when a text from the investigation team came through.

"Ms. Henson, here's a small portion of the surveillance footage, along with the fire cause report."

Looking at the footage, I froze, my pupils contracting.

Peggy, Ray, the two of you may have to say goodbye to the institute.