Old Love Fades, the Evening Breeze Brings You

A friend of mine was getting married, and I said I wanted to give three thousand dollars as a wedding gift.

Cliff Dickerson shot it down at once, because we still need to save up for a house.

In the end he tossed me a hundred bucks and told me to stick it in a card and go through the motions. Holding that single bill, I felt something in me go cold.

I never gave that gift. I shoved the hundred right back at him.

A week later his childhood sweetheart got engaged, and he posted a screenshot of the transfer on social media.

Fifty thousand dollars, with a note: "Just a little something. If it's not enough, let me know."

I brought him the screenshot and asked him about it. Cliff frowned. "Her parents did a lot for me. You don't understand how these debts work."

I didn't argue.

I just took him off my supplementary card and cancelled the trip tickets I'd already booked.

He came home that night, noticed something was off, and leaned against the doorway. "What's your problem?"

I said, "Who you spend your money on is your business."

"But Cliff, who I spend my money on is my business too. And that's not your call anymore."

...

Cliff leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, perfectly relaxed.

He seemed to think I was just throwing a little tantrum.

"Knock it off, Amanda Fox."

"All this over a hundred bucks? Seriously?"

I didn't look at him. I focused on pulling my clothes out of the closet one by one, folding each piece, laying them into the suitcase.

My movements weren't fast, but they were steady.

Not a trace of hesitation.

The ease finally slid off Cliff's face.

He walked over and slapped a hand down on my suitcase.

"You're serious?"

I looked up and met his eyes, calm.

"Yes."

The calm in my eyes stung him. His voice shot up.

"I stopped you from giving three grand, and now this? Amanda, we've been together five years! Are five years of us really worth less than saving face in front of your friend?"

"Do you even know what it means to build a life together? We're about to buy a house. Every single cent has to count."

I laughed.

"Buy a house?"

"Cliff, the down payment on that house? Eight hundred thousand came from my parents, twenty thousand from yours."

"I make twice what you make. And every month, I'm the one carrying the mortgage."

"That salary of yours, after your daily expenses, whatever's left over. You know exactly how much that is."

My words tore through the front he'd been keeping up.

His face went red in an instant.

"So what? I'm the man. Isn't providing for the family my job?"

"You've gotten too big for your boots, haven't you? Now you look down on me."

"Your job?" I repeated the word. It struck me as absurd.

"Your job is to stop me from giving a gift to my best friend, then turn around and wire fifty thousand to your childhood sweetheart?"

He blew up on the spot.

"That's different, I already told you! Back then Cora's parents were good to my family. This was paying back a debt!"

"Can you be reasonable for once?"

I didn't want to argue about any of it anymore.

There was no point.

I pushed his hand off and kept sorting my things.

Makeup, skincare, books, laptop...

Every one of them stamped with the work I'd put in myself.

The things in this home that belonged to him were pitifully few.

Watching me clear out my traces one item at a time, the panic finally crept onto Cliff's face.

He wasn't the one handing down favors anymore. His tone went soft.

"I was wrong, Mandy, okay?"

"The hundred bucks, that was on me. I was just anxious to save money."

"That fifty thousand was the last time I'll ever repay the Fox family, I swear!"

He reached for my hand.

I turned aside and dodged him.

"You don't get it, Cliff."

"This isn't about a hundred versus fifty thousand."

"It's about who matters more to you. Me, or her."

The answer was already clear.

For the sake of saving money, he could let my best friend be humiliated at her own wedding.

But for his childhood sweetheart's engagement, he could hand over fifty thousand without blinking.

Even thoughtfully adding a note to let him know if it wasn't enough.

How very fitting.

I zipped the suitcase shut with one crisp sound.

"We're done."

I said it, then grabbed the case and headed for the door.

Cliff came apart completely. He threw his arms around me from behind and held on for dear life.

"Don't go, Amanda!"

"You're the one I love! There's really nothing between me and Cora!"

His breath hit the back of my neck, faintly shaking.

Once, I might have softened.

Now all I felt was disgust.

I wrenched myself free of his arms, hard enough that he stumbled.

"Don't touch me."

My voice was cold, without a degree of warmth in it.

He froze where he stood, staring at me.

I gave him nothing more. I opened the door and walked out without looking back.

The moment the door shut, I heard something inside shatter against the floor.

It didn't matter.

This place I'd once thought would be where I'd spend the rest of my life had, as of today, nothing to do with me.

I dragged my suitcase through the late-night streets, walking nowhere in particular.

I called my best friend, Josephine Summers.

The one whose wedding gift I never got to give.

She picked up fast, her voice thick with sleep.

"What's wrong, Mandy?"

I opened my mouth, but my throat closed up.

The tears came without warning.

I clamped a hand over my mouth so I wouldn't make a sound.

On the other end, Josephine seemed to sense something was off.

"What happened? Where are you?"

"I Cliff and I broke up."

My voice came out in pieces.

"What the hell!" Josephine swore. "That son of a bitch! I'm coming to get you right now. Stay put!"

Half an hour later, her car pulled up in front of me.

She jumped out and, without a word, pulled me into a tight hug.

"It's okay, it's okay. A guy like that isn't worth it."

I buried my face in her shoulder, and everything I'd held down all night finally broke loose.

Josephine didn't ask anything. She just held me, patting my back gently.

Only when I'd cried myself out did she pull me into the car.

"You're staying at my place. Whatever it is, sleep first, we'll talk after."

Her new home was huge, bought outright by her husband's family.

She found me some pajamas and poured me a cup of hot water.

"Did he do something to you? What actually happened?"

I told her everything, exactly as it happened.

From the three thousand for the wedding gift, to the hundred-dollar insult, to the screenshot of the fifty-thousand transfer.

By the time I finished, Josephine shot up off the couch.

"Cliff's no good, I damn well knew it!"

"How does he even have the nerve to hand that over? A hundred bucks? What is he, tossing coins to a beggar?"

"If you ask me, you were just the backup! Childhood sweetheart, my ass!"

She paced back and forth across the living room.

"You did the right thing this time, Mandy! What are you keeping trash like that around for?"

I cupped the mug, my hands still cold.

"I just feel like I got cheated out of something."

"Five years together, and it turns out to be this much of a joke."

Josephine sat back down beside me and took my hands.

"The love isn't the joke. He is."

"He's the one who didn't deserve it. You gave him your whole heart."

"Don't be sad. Leave him, and you'll meet someone better."

I looked at her and forced out a smile.

"I couldn't even make it to your wedding. Didn't even give you a gift"

Josephine smacked my arm.

"What are you talking about! Like that matters between us, after all these years?"

"Fine, if you really feel that bad about it, be my kid's godmother and load up the red envelopes!"

Her over-the-top tone made me laugh.

And some of the knot in my chest seemed to loosen too.

She was right. Wrecking my own life over a man who wasn't worth it, that was a bad deal.

That night I slept in Josephine's guest room.

No dreams.

When I woke the next morning, I pulled out my phone and saw a dozen missed calls from Cliff, plus dozens of texts.

They went from questioning and angry at first, to begging and apologizing later on.

"Where are you, Mandy? Just come home."

"I was really wrong, I messed up. Just forgive me this once, okay?"

"That place isn't a home without you."

I read through them with no expression at all, then hit delete.

And while I was at it, I blocked him everywhere.

In this world, not every "I'm sorry" earns an "it's okay" back.

I stayed at Josephine's place for three days.

In those three days, I started sorting out everything between me and Cliff.

The apartment was in my name alone.

My family had covered the bulk of the down payment, and I'd been the one paying the mortgage the whole time.

But over these five years, part of Cliff's salary had gone toward our shared expenses too, and that part needed to be settled.

I didn't want to take anything of his. But what was mine, I wasn't giving up a cent of.

Josephine watched me frown over a stack of bank statements and recommended someone.

"My husband's legal advisor. His name's Reuben Gilbert. He's really good, specializes in exactly this kind of financial dispute. Want me to have him get in touch with you?"

"Sure."

I didn't turn it down.

Leave the professional work to the professionals.

That afternoon, I got a call from Reuben.

He had a good voice, clear and warm with a little rasp to it, the kind that made you feel he could be trusted.

We arranged to meet at a coffee shop.

I got there ten minutes early and took a seat by the window.

Before long, a man in a dark suit walked in.

He was tall and carried himself with a steady kind of calm, and he headed straight toward me.

"Miss Fox?"

I stood. "Lawyer Gilbert."

He smiled at me, a flash of white teeth.

"Please, sit."

He was younger than I'd expected, and more handsome.

Deep-set eyes, a high straight nose, that whole polished, elite look.

I gave him a quick rundown of my situation and handed over the bank statements and the property contract I'd prepared.

Reuben read through everything closely, stopping now and then to ask a question.

His questions always cut to the heart of it, and they made me see how much I hadn't thought through before.

"Miss Fox, based on what you've given me, this property is entirely your personal asset."

"As for the shared expenses Mr. Dickerson contributed over these five years, we can calculate that from the bank statements and offer him a corresponding compensation."

"Although..." He paused. "My advice is to settle this by agreement if we can. Going through litigation would drag out for a long time."

I nodded. "I understand."

I didn't want to turn this into something ugly either.

"I'll try to reach Mr. Dickerson and talk it through with him," Reuben said.

"Thank you for the trouble."

"It's my job."

With the business out of the way, the mood eased a little.

Reuben lifted his coffee, took a sip, and asked, as if in passing,

"If you don't mind me asking, what brought you and Mr. Dickerson to this point?"

I was quiet for a moment.

It took nerve to recount something that shameful to a stranger.

But looking at the honesty in Reuben's eyes, I told him anyway.

"Over a hundred dollars."

His eyebrows lifted slightly. Clearly it wasn't what he'd expected.

I gave him the short version of how it all happened.

He didn't interrupt once, just listened quietly.

Only after I'd finished did he speak, slowly.

"This isn't about a hundred dollars."

"It's about respect and choice."

His words hit the nail on the head.

The last bit of hurt and resentment in me was smoothed away in an instant.

So I hadn't been making a mountain out of nothing.

Anyone would find it unacceptable.

"Thank you, Lawyer Gilbert," I said.

"This is the first time I've felt like someone actually understands me."

Reuben smiled. "You don't have to thank me."

"When you're at the point of talking marriage, and a man is still throwing money at another woman, that behavior alone says plenty."

"You made the right choice, Miss Fox."

His words settled my tangled thoughts completely.

When I left the coffee shop, it had started to drizzle.

I was about to call a car when a black Phaeton pulled up in front of me.

The window rolled down. It was Reuben.

"Where to? I'll drive you."

"Don't trouble yourself, I'll just grab a cab."

"Get in. It's hard to get a cab in the rain."

His tone left no room to argue.

So I opened the door and got in.

There was a faint scent of wood in the car, pleasant.

Reuben drove, and we chatted here and there.

He asked about my work, my hobbies.

Talking with him was easy. The nerves I'd had wound tight for days slowly loosened.

The car stopped outside Josephine's building.

"Thank you for driving me back."

"Don't mention it," Reuben said. "If anything comes up, I'll be in touch."

"Okay."

I unbuckled my seatbelt, ready to get out.

"Miss Fox." He stopped me suddenly.

I turned back.

"What's past, let it stay in the past."

"You deserve better."

His eyes were serious, with a kind of steadying, reassuring weight to them.

My heart skipped a beat.

Reuben worked fast.

The very next day, he got in touch with Cliff.

The result was predictable.

Cliff refused to talk.

When Reuben called me, there was a note of helplessness in his voice.

"Mr. Dickerson is very worked up, Miss Fox. He thinks you're being unreasonable, and he refuses to discuss anything about dividing the assets."

"He says he won't break up."

I let out a cold laugh.

"Who does he think he is?"

"Then take it straight to court, Lawyer Gilbert, if he insists on refusing to settle."

"I don't want anything more to do with him."

"Understood."

I hung up and drew in a deep breath.

If he wouldn't take the dignified way out, then I'd give him the embarrassing one.

I started looking for a new place.

Staying at Josephine's forever wasn't a solution.

I rented a one-bedroom near my office and moved in that same day.

The new place was small, but cozy.

On my own, I scrubbed it spotless, went to the grocery store and bought all kinds of things, and packed the fridge full.

Looking at this little space that was entirely my own, I felt steadier than I ever had.

That evening, I was in the middle of a face mask when the doorbell rang.

I assumed it was a delivery and opened the door without a second thought.

Standing outside was Cliff.

He looked haggard, unshaven, dark shadows heavy under his eyes.

And he reeked of alcohol.

"Mandy..."

The moment he spoke, his voice came out rough and cracked.

I moved to shut the door at once.

But Cliff jammed his foot into the gap and forced his way in.

"How did you find this place?" I frowned.

"I asked your coworkers." His eyes were red as he looked at me. "Why won't you take my calls, Mandy? Why did you block me?"

"I've been going out of my mind looking for you, do you have any idea!"

I stepped back, putting distance between us.

"We're already broken up, Cliff."

"I never agreed to that!" he shouted.

"A breakup isn't something you decide on your own!"

He came forward, reaching to grab my hand.

I knocked his arm away hard.

"You're drunk. Please leave."

"I'm not leaving!" He turned shameless. "Not unless you come home with me."

"This is my home," I said. "And you're nothing to me anymore."

"Amanda!" My words set him off. He seized my shoulders and shook me hard.

"Do you have to be this heartless? Five years, and you just throw it away like it's nothing?"

His grip was strong, and it dug painfully into my shoulders.

I struggled, but I couldn't push him off at all.

"Let go!"

"Come back with me! I won't let go!"

While we were still grappling, my phone rang.

It was Reuben.

I lunged for it, but Cliff snatched the phone away first.

When he saw Lawyer Gilbert on the screen, his face twisted in an instant.

"Found a new one already? That fast? Lawyer Gilbert?"

Sneering, he hit answer and put it on speaker, right in front of me.

"Miss Fox, it's me." Reuben's clear, even voice came through the speaker.

Cliff cut in first, his tone all provocation.

"She doesn't have time for your call."

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end.

"Is this Mr. Dickerson?"

"That's right, I'm her boyfriend!" Cliff announced, like he was staking a claim.

"Oh?" Nothing in Reuben's tone gave anything away. "As far as I know, Miss Fox already ended things with you."

"What you're doing right now already counts as trespassing and harassment."

"If Miss Fox wants it, I can call the police immediately."

Cliff's expression shifted.

He clearly hadn't expected this lawyer to be so hard to push around.

"We don't need some outsider butting in. This is between the two of us!"

"A couple?" Reuben let out a soft laugh. "I think you've got it wrong, Mr. Dickerson."

"Miss Fox is my client now. Her business is my business."

"I'll give you three minutes to leave. If you don't, you'll answer for whatever happens."

Reuben's tone wasn't loud, but it carried a pressure that left no room for argument.

Cliff gripped the phone, the veins standing out on the back of his hand.

He stared at me, hard.

I met his eyes without a flicker of fear.

The standoff lasted about a minute before Cliff finally caved.

He hurled the phone to the floor, and the screen shattered on impact.

"Fine, Amanda!"

"You just wait!"

He spat out the threat, turned, and slammed the door on his way out.

The crash of it left my ears ringing.

My legs gave out, and I sank to the floor.

It was a long time before I found my strength again.

I picked up the broken phone from the floor. It wouldn't turn on anymore.

Tomorrow, one more thing to deal with.

The next day I went to work with dark circles under both eyes.

The moment I walked into the office, something felt off.

The way my coworkers looked at me carried a mix of curiosity and pity.

My direct supervisor called me into his office.

"What's really going on with you and Cliff, Amanda?"

My stomach dropped.

"He came to see you?"

He nodded, his face grim.

"He showed up first thing this morning and made a scene in the lobby. Said you're a gold-digger, that you dumped him to latch on to someone richer."

"Said you threw him out of the house for another man"

"The whole company's talking about it now."

My head buzzed.

I hadn't imagined Cliff would sink this low.

Ruining my reputation just to force me back together with him.

"It isn't the way he's telling it, sir." I drew a deep breath, forcing myself calm.

"I know," my supervisor sighed. "I haven't known you a day or two. I know what kind of person you are."

"But there's too much gossip going around the office right now. It's not good for you."

"How about you take a few days off, let this blow over?"

I understood. This was him trying to protect me.

But why should I be the one to hide?

I wasn't the one who did anything wrong.

"I won't take the time off. Thank you, sir."

"Let them say whatever they want. I've got nothing to hide."

When I came out of his office, I ran straight into a few of the women who loved to gossip.

The moment they saw me, they crowded around.

"We heard you dumped Cliff, Amanda. How could you let go of a guy that good?"

"Yeah, and I heard you two were about to buy a place. Such a shame."

"So the new one you found's got money, huh? A lawyer?"

They talked over each other, every line barbed.

I didn't bother with any of it and walked right through the middle of them.

"Please. What's so great about it? She just landed herself a richer catch."

"Let's see how long she stays smug."

The whispers behind me set my nerves on edge.

I clenched my fists, nails digging deep into my palms.

All day I felt it like thorns against my back.

Wherever I went, I could feel the strange looks following me.