Page 44 of Glass Jawed
Like maybe revenge doesn’t taste as sweet as she does.
Cold dread slithers up my spine at the thought.
Revenge. My plan.
God. The ecstasy of the moment twists into something sharp and sour.
A knot forms in my chest, guilt worming its way in.
What the fuck am I doing?
THIRTEEN
Aarohi
After the first time Lucian and I slept together, things escalated fast.
I don’t mean emotionally unstable fast. I mean, I blinked, and we were...us. He was picking me up from classes. Inviting me over for dinners—to the point that I now had a key to his place.
The man was helping me tweak my resume while his hand wandered to my thigh under the table like he couldn’t help himself. We were glued together in the most unexpected, domestic,scaryways.
And I’d never felt so safe and terrified at the same time.
He’d become incredibly attentive since our first time sleeping together. Thoughtful in ways that blindsided me—like remembering how I take my coffee even when I changed it up randomly one day, or buying a weighted blanket because I once told him I had trouble sleeping before assignment submissions.
Two months have passed since that night. Two impossibly soft, beautiful months. The kind that feel borrowed from someone else’s life.
In my head—and to Ruth, my therapist—I’ve taken to calling the night with Tim as thedreadednight, and the one with Lucian, as themagicalnight. It was incredibly corny but I couldn’t help it. In some ways, his sweet words had overridden the contempt from the dreaded night.
But Lucian wasn’t just a lover now. He was... woven into my life.
Sometimes, I’d catch him staring into space—eyes slightly distant, jaw ticking—but the moment I reached for him, he’d blink it away like it never happened.
I never asked. Maybe I should.
But I didn’t want to prod. I didn’t want to poke at what I assumed was a bruise that might not have fully healed yet.
He never talked about Tim. Neither did he let it shadow overourmoments. But those distant, unfocused gazes of his—they lingered.
One night, a few weeks ago, I was curled up on his couch wearing his hoodie, scrolling aimlessly while he hosted a little get-together. Nothing fancy. Just five of his friends, including Liam, his COO.
Surprisingly, his friends were incredible. Successful in their own right and downright humble. One of them—Karina—even said she’d refer me internally for a job her company had just posted. Her fiancé, Isaac, shared that he was hiring a Project Manager for the Fintech firm he was leading ops for.
I was a flustered mess when they started asking me about my previous experience. But Lucian simply smiled affectionately and nodded in encouragement.
Later, Liam had sat beside me while Lucian was off somewhere mingling.
He gave me a casual side-glance. “So... we meet again, Ms. Barista. You know... he won’t shut up about you.”
I laughed, mildly embarrassed. “I hope so. Also I won’t be a barista soon. At least, I hope not after this job hunt is over.”
“Any company would be lucky to have you.” He smiled and tapped his bottle against mine. “You know I’m technically your Cupid, right? I was the one who convinced—eh...forced—Lucian to take the guest lecture gig at your uni.”
That gave me pause. It made me realize that his friends probably didn’t know the full story. About Tim. Aboutthatnight. About me.
And maybe it was better that way.
Maybe, for once, I could just be the girlfriend. Not the woman who tore apart a relationship. Not the homewrecker.
