Staring blankly at her wardrobe, Cobie has no idea which piece of garments she should toss into her travel bag. According to the forecast, it will be dry and warm on Saturday. Is it proper to wear her sleeveless sundress? Or just stick to formal attire? It technically is still called working hours until her flight home.

Pulling her royal blue A-line dress, she roams her eyes over her blazer collections, and her eyes fall on a plain white blazer she bought last year. Once she stands in front of the mirror, she hugs the dress against her front torso and the blazer on top of it. She grins widely, satisfied with the last-minute mix and match she just did. If she can borrow a pair of white accessories from Rose, she will look like a million-dollar baby.

And why is she busy deciding what she wears on Saturday morning when the client presentation is on Friday? Who is she trying to impress?

"Focus, Cobie, focus," she mumbles, feeling stupid all of a sudden.

She's just finished writing down the rules for how to not fall for her boss, and within fifteen minutes, she broke the first rule. She glances at the yellow post-it note she stuck on her note board, where she wrote rule number one: Stop daydreaming about him.

He shouldn't be the reason for her to look good. Besides, looking dazzling isn't what she was hired for; it would be Georgia's. With Luke standing next to his secretary, they'll make a perfect representation of the Marketing Service company. And where is Cobie in the picture? Hidden behind a pile of research analysis documents, of course.

"Perfect!" Cobie groans as she throws the clothes to her bed, ditching the idea of asking Rose for some cute accessories. The mood has been ruined.

After digging for a loose shirt for sleeping and a pair of underwear, she folds everything and arranges them in her bag. It's good that she's a light traveler. As long as she has her toothbrush, lipstick, and clean underwear, she's good. When she's about to dig into her drawer to look for her toiletries bag, her laptop chimes.

Still awake?

Yup.

Just got back from going out with the boys. I keep forgetting about our time difference. And it sucks that we can't really talk during the day now. I missed you by a few seconds last night. I saw you go offline when I went on

Sorry. I just don't want to push it after my boss nicely warned me about this.

Yeah, okay. So, what are you up to?

Just done with packing. Well, almost. Just a few more things and I'm ready for the trip.

Right, the trip. What time is the flight?

Eight. Need to leave at six-thirty in the morning. Gah.

That is shitty. Why didn't you pick the later flight?

As if I can. This is not a vacation where I can choose the time for my convenience. Everything is arranged by the company. All I need to do is get my ass there on time or my boss will shred my ass to a pulp.

He'll surely do, he? How are things going with the message btw? Did they find the person who did it?

No. Not yet. The girl I thought did swear she knew nothing about it. And for some reason, I believe her.

So, after my boss made the guy from IT delete my message and told people that it was just a messy misunderstanding, people smirked less at me.

He doesn't sound like an asshole, though

He really is not.

He could've taken advantage of you after he learned about your feelings for him. I heard this kind of shit going on a lot at work.

She bites her inner cheek, weighing if she should tell BreadPitt about her conversation with Luke. Does BreadPitt need to know that she twisted the story around just to get her out of this horrendous mess? No. She has learned from her mistake. No more T.M.I.

I guess I was just lucky.

D'you know what funny is? Something seems off about that man...

Huh?

Like, this guy sounds like a dreamy human being. Successful, good-looking, popular, and kind. Is he even real? He sounds like a character in a cheesy novel!

I'm not sure where you want to go with this, but he is real. At least I'm not making up a story about him.

That's not what I said. I mean this guy must have negative sides. He can't be that perfect

And I never said he's perfect. Where did you get that idea?

Yeah, okay

Maybe I'm just jealous.

of him.

Why?

Look at me. Right, you can't. I mean, I may be lucky with how I look, but I'm jobless, broke, and stuck with my mom because I can't afford to live alone. I know I can be fun, but I can be fucking nasty to someone, too. And the shittiest part is, while this guy is real to you, sharing daily activities with you, I'm not. I'm not real to you.

You're real to me.

Come on, you know what I mean. All we did in the past few weeks is just talk. Exchanging messages to be precise. But I know nothing about you except for what you eat for lunch, your lil problem at work, and your blonde profile picture. We have no clue about who we are in real life.

I know we agreed to keep it this way. But still, it gets me sometimes.

But it doesn't mean we're not real. We just

Cobie's fingers hover over the keyboard, trying to find the correct word for what she's going to say. Despite his playful nature since the day they met, BreadPitt sounds edgy tonight. What's happening with him? This guy never went off like this about their situation because they both know the distance wouldn't help much if they wanted to meet in real life. And it's not like he never met up with other chicks on the site who live nearby and slept with them.

...being realistic?

Is everything alright by the way? You sound a bit irritable tonight.

BreadPit doesn't reply for a while. Cobie shrugs as she gets up from her chair to resume packing up. Something must have happened to him. But if he doesn't want to talk about it, there is nothing she can do about it.

I went to the kitchen for a glass of water; my throat was super dry. I had too many drinks with the boys. And the brownies lol. And sorry for being cranky. My brain is going wonky at the moment. Didn't mean to trash your guy, though

He's not my guy. He's just my boss. I told you I will never get involved with him.

Because he's your boss or because he's popular?

The second one.

Both.

What is it about popular guys, btw? I mean, there is always one in every group around us. Schools, neighborhoods, sports clubs, parties, work, everywhere. They aren't necessarily bad, though

I guess. But trouble tends to follow them. I think it's because of all the unnecessary attention they get that spoils them. But again, I only saw what I saw. I can be wrong.

You have your point.

Judging from his slow response, BreadPitt must be distracted at the moment. Maybe he's also talking to his other friends or other girls. Who knows? Not that it bothers her. It's just getting tiresome to juggle between packing up and typing messages to him.

As expected, once she leaves her chair, her laptop chimes again. She groans but she ignores it this time, determined to wrap up all the stuff she needs to bring tomorrow. The boy can wait.

A soft knock echoes from the bedroom door, followed by Rose's soft voice. "Are you still up?" But before Cobie has a chance to reply, the door is slowly pushed open, revealing her little sister's pale face. "Need help with packing up?"

"Nah. I will only stay one night there. I will live if I miss something."

"Okay." Rose leans back to the wall next to her door, eyeing her big sister.

Cobie shoves her scarf into the space between her clothes. "And you're still up this late."

"I was just on the phone with Harry."

"Oh? That's fast. I thought he wanted space?"

Clutching her own shoulder with one hand while the other hand hugging her waist, Rose fixes her gaze on Cobie's duffel bag. "I know, but I just needed to talk to him. To hear his voice."

Trying not to frown at her sister's last line, Cobie replies, "I see. How did it go?"

"Harry wants to" —she takes a deep breath— "take a break. And I have no choice but to agree to him."

"Again?" Cobie asks, answered with a nod from Rose. Cobie stops moving, rests both her palms on her hips, and gives her sister her full attention. "Do you think it's a good idea? You guys have been doing this far too often. It's not healthy, Rose."

"Yeah, I know."

"I think..." Cobie sighs and plops down on her bed. This is what she will never understand from them. Well, it's more that she never understands Harry with his pull and loose game. He has no idea how it hurts Rose in the process. The worst part is that no amount of talk she has with Harry could stop them because Rose always wants him back. "Are you alright?"

Rose looks down at her feet, taking her time to answer. "I will be. But I have to say it feels different this time."

"Different how?"

"He feels so...distant." Rose frowns while chewing her lower lip. "Something is up, I can feel it, but it's hard to put a finger on it. Cobie, do you think he's cheating on me?"

"No. And stop assuming things," Cobie replies. "Harry might be a little unnerving when it comes to having his freedom, but I think he's not a cheater. From what I see, this situation isn't final. Just take a little break for yourself. Go somewhere nice. Maybe you can drive with Mom and aunt Martha on Saturday. You haven't seen her for ages, have you? Just take your mind off him for the weekend. Yeah?"

Rose frowns deeper. "How will I stop thinking of him?"

"By getting yourself busy and having a good time."

It takes several seconds before Rose nods while letting out a big sigh. "I should've listened to you from the very start. I shouldn't have gotten involved with a popular guy like him. He is way out of my league. I'm just pushing my luck."

"Damn right. If you have listened to me, you would be having a peaceful relationship with someone else now." The line is on the tip of Cobie's tongue, but of course, she doesn't say it.

"Come here." She pats the spot next to her. When Rose snuggles next to her, she wraps her hands around her shoulders. "I said what I said because of what happened in the past. Maybe things are different between you and Harry. What I know is you" —Cobie pokes her sister's nose— "are the one that makes him a lucky guy. Haven't you seen yourself in the mirror lately? You can always ditch your teaching job and apply for a modeling job. And you will be ten times more popular than Harry, and he will be the one who is in constant worry."

Rose chuckles softly. "I wish I had that confidence."

"Hey, everything is going to be alright. Promise me you will do something fun with Mom this weekend."

Her sister nods. "I guess I can do that."

It's almost midnight when Cobie is done with her travel bag. Before she starts her nightly routine, she checks her laptop. The notification from BreadPitt's back-to-back messages had stopped before Rose left her room.

I have to say, you remind me of someone I knew in the past. She was a new girl at school

She was smart, bubbly, and had big dreams for her life. But she was also so oblivious and gullible

Long story short, she dated a guy at school. He was the cool kid a girl like her should avoid. Exactly the one you described: popular, spoiled, and dumb. He could have any girl he wanted, but for some reason, the new girl caught his attention. Maybe she was just like fresh air for him after dating around the same type of girls for years. Unfortunately, she fell for him. Hard.

When she finally realized he was an asshole, things got messy, he got freaked out, and he broke it off. She couldn't take it but the guy didn't look back and moved on with someone new

The girl stopped bothering him after a while, but she was never the same person after that

A year after graduation, he tried to contact her, but he couldn't find her. Rumor had it, she and her family moved to a different state due to family stuff

Even though he refuses to admit it, he still can't get over the guilt of ruining her. Even now

I hope she's doing fine and carrying on with life. I just wish I did something different for her

Now I know why I can't stop talking to you even though we know we hardly go somewhere with this online shit. You oddly remind me of her

Don't mind me. I'm being weird

Darn weed

I haven't had it for some time

I'm going now or I will fall off my chair. You're still busy packing up anyway

Safe trip for tomorrow!

🔹🔹🔹