Everyone Had a Key but Me novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: Twelve Parties Ahead

Allegra posts Claire's breakup text for strangers to mock; Gabe waits in line at Bellini's for her sake, but when Claire arrives he is seated with Allegra and drags her inside by the sleeve.

I took my suitcase down from the top of the wardrobe.

For two weeks I'd rehearsed sensible reasons to stay.

I had a job here.

Moving abroad was expensive.

Starting over could wait.

None of them had been the real reason.

I had been afraid of what leaving would do to Gabe and me.

Now I packed my master's notebooks, my laptop, and the clothes I'd need for work.

My phone lit up beside the suitcase.

Allegra had posted a screenshot of my breakup message.

Enough with the drama. It's getting embarrassing. 🙄

The comments were already piling up.

Another breakup threat. Terrifying.

She's an office assistant. What does she think she brings to the table?

Gabe could have anyone. She should be grateful he even looks at her.

I read them once.

Then I left a comment of my own.

It wasn't a threat. You're welcome to stop discussing me now.

Gabe called almost at once.

"I've told her to take it down."

"Good."

"They were being idiots. None of them knows anything about your work." His voice softened. "You know I don't think that about you."

I folded a sweater into the suitcase.

"Claire?"

"I'm here."

"Then talk to me."

I had spent three years looking for words he would take seriously.

I wasn't going to spend my last night at home looking for them again.

He took the silence for surrender.

"It's almost midnight. Get some sleep. Tomorrow's our anniversary, and I'm taking you to Bellini's."

"Gabe."

"If you mean it, say it to my face. Three years deserves more than a text."

I looked at the small empty jewelry box on my dresser.

My mother's bracelet had been with him for two months.

The clasp had broken, and he'd offered to have his jeweler repair it.

Twice I'd asked if it was ready, and twice he'd said not yet.

"One conversation," I said. "And you bring the bracelet."

"I will."

At one the next afternoon, he sent me the restaurant address.

Bellini's was a small Italian place I'd mentioned a month ago.

It booked weeks ahead, but it held a few tables for walk-ins.

The Don of the Santangelo family could have made one call and emptied the room.

Instead he was waiting in line like everyone else, because I'd once told him I hated watching people scramble to please him.

Every few minutes, another update arrived.

Still twelve parties ahead of us.

Down to nine.

It was brutally hot outside.

Stay out of the sun, I wrote.

He replied with a sticker of a small grey cat giving a solemn nod.

Milo.

My kitten, gone a year now, made into stickers from my favorite photos.

Gabe sent them whenever we fought.

Milo begging.

Milo flat on his back in defeat.

They used to make me soften before Gabe had even apologized.

I touched the little grey face on my screen.

I had spent three years answering that face with forgiveness.

I wasn't going to answer it tonight.

There had been love.

Real tenderness, too.

I didn't have to pretend otherwise to know I was finished.

At five thirty, Gabe wrote that only two parties were still ahead of us.

I left early so he wouldn't have to wait alone.

From across the street, I saw him through the restaurant window.

He was already seated.

Allegra sat beside him, eating from a slice of cake between them.

Gabe spotted me and came outside at once, his hand reaching for mine.

I stepped back.

He looked at his empty hand, then at me.

"I thought you coming meant we'd worked this out."

"No. I came to end it in person, and to get my bracelet."

His jaw tightened.

"Claire, don't do this on the sidewalk."

He caught my sleeve and steered me toward the private dining room.

When I pulled away, his grip tightened.

"Gabe. Let go."

"Just come inside."

← Chapter 1 · All chapters · Chapter 3 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend