Only God knew how I managed to pass the entire night. I woke up early and noticed the screen was still blinking every now and then, but I didn’t get a single message from Vampire. I pursed my lips and locked the phone again. I didn’t know why I felt a bad premonition in my heart, but I ignored my intuition and got up to do my daily work.
Today was the last Chapter I was supposed to update. Vampire had known about this already ever since the award show. We had discussed the schedule ahead of time so that we could stay on track with my novel.
Right now, I would only have to update the Chapter and click on the completed tag to end the novel forever. When I opened my account, I stared at the novel page with a hint of longing in my eyes.
The reason why I had originally written this story was only for Vampire. The main character and my story were similar, and in the novel, the protagonists ended up together. Of course, it didn’t help that I had even shown my husband in a bad light, which helped me gain more readers.
But now when I looked at the novel page, I couldn’t help but feel complicated in my heart.
Almost all the scenes of this story were engraved with plenty of memories of me and Vampire together. I had even written down the imaginations I would have about him as if I were trying to vent out my feelings. And now that this novel was over, I didn’t know what to do.
I pursed my lips and finally clicked on the update after copy-pasting the Chapter in the profile. After posting it, everyone exclaimed in the comment section. Most of my readers had expected for the story to end, but they didn’t think it would be sooner. They couldn’t help but be surprised at that.
But what else could I do? For some reason, I felt a wave of relief washing over my heart when I saw this story ending.
Now that it ended, I wanted to talk to Vampire and share memories of the novel with him. I couldn’t help but feel my lips curve up at that. I knew that even though he hadn’t replied, I knew very well that he would text back this time since it was a matter of work.
And I was right. He did message me back instantly as soon as I posted the novel and added the ‘completed’ tag at the end.
“Congratulations, Elise.
Since you have finished your work, our professional relationship comes to an end. Of course, I would continue to help you in case of emergencies, but if you want to work with us again, kindly send us a message at the attacked email address.
Thank you!
Yours truly,
Vampire.
Editor in Chief, Webpad.”
I frowned after seeing this kind of message. Why did it feel like it had a professional touch? It seemed more like a text that he had just sent through an automatic answering machine. Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to get a decent message back from him, I saw a small reply at the very end in the message box.
“Come meet me at ten today.”
I stared at the text for a long time before raising my hand and rubbing my eyes.
This wasn’t a dream, right? I had been almost emotionally and mentally drained, so I felt as if I was hallucinating. I pinched myself in the arm and cried out. “Ouch!”
Then I rubbed that place as my eyes brightened. Did he really agree to meet me today? I couldn’t help but grin wider than ever. For a moment, I had felt a trace of fear back when Vampire had stopped messaging me ever since I came back from the award show. But now when I received his reply unexpectedly, I couldn’t help but feel elated.
The grin on my face didn’t wipe off even when I got ready and walked out of the apartment half an hour earlier than the meeting time. I had applied faint make-up with pinkish lip gloss that glistened in the brightness of the sun. I had donned a cute yellow top and jeans.
Since it was morning, I didn’t wear anything that was too sexy. I wanted to look elegant for him today since he readily agreed to see me. So after a while when I reached that coffee shop, I found that Vampire was already sitting there, sipping the coffee silently lowering his head.
For a moment, I Kept staring at him as I was reminded of the time when we had met in this coffee shop for the first time. At that time, he was still sitting at the same place, sipping the coffee. I was similarly stunned while staring at his handsome face that shone brightly in the sun. I remembered the way he had raised his head as a smile had blossomed on his face.
But today, something was different, when he raised his head, his expressions were a bit off. He didn’t have a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. And neither did his eyes brighten up when he saw me entering. He merely nodded and lowered his head, focusing on the coffee in his hands.
A frown crossed my forehead. A sudden wave of intuition entered my heart that something was wrong, but I couldn’t point my finger on it. But I shook it off and smiled while heading over to that seat.
“How’s it going?” I asked him as I took the coffee he was sipping. It wasn’t a big deal for us to share food. All this time when we dated, I had often become habitual of taking a sip of his coffee every once in a while. I even remembered him smiling helplessly as he would let me have his coffee. But today, just as I was about to snatch it away as usual, his grip on the cup tightened.
“That’s my coffee.”
I frowned and tilted my head. “Yeah, so what?” Then I pursed my lips and rolled my eyes. “Fine, have your way then. I just knew you never liked it whenever I would steal your food.”
I did say those words, but I could feel a trace of nervousness rising in my heart. What was up with Vampire today? Why was this guy acting like this?
But I still ignored my intuition and scooted closer to him, trying to hug him as usual. But he moved away as an awkward expression appeared on his face. I tilted my head for a moment and we both stayed in that frozen position for a while before a sigh escaped his lips.
“Elise, the story has ended.”
I nodded, not understanding why he brought up this topic. So I sat there and stared at him, but for some reason, I felt an uneasy feeling rising in my heart. I took a deep breath and tried to suppress that emotion.
He glanced at me for a brief moment before opening his mouth. “Since the novel has ended, it would be safer to meet less. I won’t be able to reply to you as fast as I used to. In fact, it would be better not to message me at all unless you have a new story idea.”
My eyes widened as my heart sank deeper in the sea of coldness. I looked at him in disbelief. “W-What did you just say?” If someone unknown would hear my voice, they would realize that it had a slight tremor that made it seem like I was trembling because of some pain in my body.
I instantly grabbed his hands and said in a trembling voice, “You won’t miss me?”
Vampire ignored me before taking his hand away and continued. “Well, you see, the main reason why I had approached you was to help you get recognized and win the award of the best editor in the company. So since I’ve achieved my goal, there’s no need for us to meet. You should forget about everything we have done until now, and I promise to never disturb you in your life.”
I felt like someone had just poured freezing cold water on the top of my head making my heart shiver in winter. I opened my mouth and closed it rapidly as I blinked, trying hard to suppress tears in my eyes. Then I looked at him with moistened eyes and said, “You don’t love me?”
I saw a cold expression on his face as he glanced at me and shifted away before sipping his coffee. “I never loved you, Elise. I have a wife. At most, I would call our relationship as ‘friends with benefits’ and nothing more. Now when I want to get out of this, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
I looked at him with pale face. It felt like my entire world collapsed. I was trembling furiously as I averted my eyes, secretly pinching myself. This wasn’ a nightmare, right? If it were, I wanted to get up! After taking a deep breath, I glanced at him. “Then what about the time we spent together? What about the nights we spent together? And what about that trip to the beach?! Was that also fake?!”
By the time I finished speaking, my breathing was heavy as I stared at him with red eyes and flaring nostrils. I wanted answers. He couldn’t just come and tell me that everything was fake. I had invested my emotions and time! I even wrote a novel about him with a good ending! What about my feelings? They weren’t false. Did he not care at all?!
Tears appeared in my eyes as I felt something sticking on my neck, making me feel choked up.
But Vampire seemed like he didn’t care a single bit. He got up from his seat and walked out while paying the bill. “Every time we did it was the alcohol, not the real me. I will say it again. It was a friend with benefits relationship, nothing more. Don’t imagine stuff all by yourself.”