Chasing Him Across the Rainy Paris

In the alumni lounge, Ashlys ex Carter stood and revealed that for three years, someone had been anonymously sending him money, worried he was in need.

The room erupted in cheers, all eyes turning to Ashly.

Carter went on, describing how when his father was critically ill, someone flew across the country to stay at his bedside, even booking him a luxury hotel to rest while she slept exhausted under hospital lights.

I quietly withdrew my hand from the tables edge.

No one knew Ashly and I had lived together for five years, or that her distant stares on our couch were moments spent longing for him.

So thats where her salary went, every dollar quietly supporting Carters life.

I remembered the day my father died; she stayed ten minutes at the funeral before hurrying off.

Now Carter took her hand in front of everyone and asked softly if they could start over. She did not pull away, only sat in silence.

As the crowd chanted for them to kiss, a cold clarity washed over me: my five years with her had just ended, for good.

Ashly opened her mouth, but she simply could not bring herself to reject him outright. Instead, she used the most ambiguous tone possible to string everyone along.

"Let us talk about it when we get back."

That word "we" carried a heavy, intimate weight that completely shifted the vibe of the room.

The loudest guy in our graduating class took the lead, slamming his beer on the table. "Oh come on! That is basically a yes right there!" "Be honest, Ashly, you have been waiting for this day forever, right?" "You did not even want to come tonight! But the second I mentioned Carter was flying in, you practically begged me for the location!"

Laughter filled the room. Three years had passed. Yet the mere mention of Carter still made her lose all her composure.

My grip on my drink tightened, the color draining from my face.

Before coming here tonight, I actually thought I had the upper hand. I foolishly believed that my five years of devotion could overshadow their three years of college romance. After all, during our time together, Carter never stopped texting her. But every single time, she would ruthlessly reject him right in front of my face.

"Carter, I have my own life now. Stop bothering me."

It was only at this exact moment I realized that all those harsh rejections were just a theatrical performance put on for my benefit. In the hidden corners of her heart that I could never reach, Carter still owned the absolute largest piece of real estate. That was why she compromised her own boundaries for him, time and time again.

Snapping out of her daze, Ashly did not give the crowd a straight answer. Instead, she gently nudged Carters shoulder, laughing softly to smooth things over.

"Are we still playing the game or what?" "Stop teasing him, guys. He has thin skin, you are going to make him blush."

Her tone was sickeningly sweet and entirely too fond. The girls in the room exchanged knowing, giddy smiles.

"Alright, alright, we will stop bullying your precious boy!" "Let us keep playing!"

A new round of the drinking game started. 'Never Have I Ever'. Unsurprisingly, when the prompts got specific, almost everyone put a finger down, except Carter. People shook their heads, sighing dramatically.

"Carter, you are a seriously lucky guy." "Is there anyone on this planet more devoted than Ashly?"

Following the collective agreement, everyone naturally started bringing up the old college days. Like when Carter hosted the campus talent show, Ashly would always sneak a bouquet of roses backstage after the curtain fell. Or when Carter twisted his ankle playing varsity basketball, she immediately took off her own jacket, draped it over his shivering shoulders, and half carried him to the campus clinic. Even when Carter's family went bankrupt and he could not pay his tuition, she was the one who quietly settled the massive bill.

Out of her four years of college, she spent three of them desperately chasing Carter.

Carters ears turned bright red. He subtly shifted closer to her on the sofa. Ashlys hand froze for a second. She instinctively shot a glance in my direction. But just as quickly, she averted her gaze, acting like we were total strangers to avoid suspicion.

Suddenly, someone noticed I still had one finger raised. Just a moment ago, Carter had bragged with total confidence. "I had someone propose to me, saying they would buy me a luxury waterfront condo as a wedding gift. Have any of you experienced that?"

Everyone had silently put a finger down, admitting defeat. Everyone except me. But there was absolutely no pride on my face. Because Ashly had said those exact same words to me.

She told me that once our careers stabilized and we were a bit older, she would buy that exact waterfront condo and gift it to me as our forever home. The promise that once filled my heart with overwhelming sweetness now felt like an endless, suffocating joke.

The classmates finally registered my raised hand, their eyes widening, ready for the gossip.

"Holy crap, Noah! When did you secretly get a girlfriend?" "I thought you were perpetually single!" "Wait a minute. Is that girl someone from our graduating class?"

Before I could even open my mouth, I felt a sharp kick against my shin under the table. It was only when the entire room focused their attention on me that Ashly finally looked at me directly. She acted like I was just an old acquaintance she barely knew, joining in on the teasing.

"I am curious too. Who is the lucky girl?"

When she said those words, her eyes were dead and cold, carrying a silent, sharp warning. I knew she would never let me go public with our relationship. After all, this was exactly how I had survived the last five years.

At home, she played the role of the perfect, caring girlfriend perfectly. She would cook me breakfast, kneel to help me take off my shoes after a long shift, and even draw me a hot bath and bring me a mug of tea before bed.

But the second Carter entered the equation, all her supposed loyalty became utterly worthless. Everything she had ever done for me, she had already done for him, and with far more passion.

Ashly was not worried that making us public would cause people to gossip. She was terrified that if people knew about me, she would no longer be able to comfortably enjoy Carters attention and affection.

It was the middle of summer, but the breeze blowing through the open lounge window froze my blood solid.

"Come on Noah, spill the tea!" "I really want to know what kind of girl managed to lock down a handsome guy like you. Is she some rich heiress? Or the super gentle, domestic type?"

Under the barrage of curious questions, I gave a very simple physical description.

"Tall, pale skin. The kind of eyes that make me feel like I am standing in a warm spring breeze the second they look my way."

Sitting directly across from me, Ashly let out an involuntary, conceited little smile. Perhaps she was secretly thrilled that every single trait I listed matched her to absolute perfection.

"Oh my god, that sounds exactly like our Ashly!" Someone immediately caught the similarities, laughing loudly. "Noah, you and Carter were college roommates, and you even have the exact same taste in women! That is hilarious!"

Hearing this, Carter stiffened slightly. I raised my glass, downed my drink in one gulp, and swallowed the bitter lump forming in my throat.

Carter quickly recovered, throwing out a casual joke. "Really? Well now I definitely want to meet her." "Noah, when you get married, you better invite us all so we can finally see her face!" Saying this, he playfully bumped his shoulder against Ashlys, winking at her. "You have to come too! I want to see just how much you two look alike!"

Ashly completely froze, her face flushing awkwardly as she desperately changed the subject. "Stop worrying about other people's love lives and worry about yourself." "Drinking straight whiskey with your stomach ulcer? You will be groaning in pain in an hour."

She naturally reached out, taking his whiskey glass and drinking the rest of the liquor herself. Then she flagged down a waiter and ordered him a warm chamomile tea. She even instinctively opened her mouth, about to list out his dietary restrictions so he would not order anything spicy.

It was only when the fruit fork slipped from my fingers and clattered loudly onto the glass table that she abruptly stopped talking. Her hands retreated under the table, twisting the fabric of her dress. She awkwardly pulled her gaze away, rubbing the tip of her nose in guilt.

We had been together for five years. She could never remember my food allergies, nor could she remember what flared up my acid reflux. Whenever I quietly pointed out her mistakes, she would just brush it off lightly, claiming work made her too exhausted to remember the small details.

But now I finally understood. True love meant remembering absolutely everything. Even after three full years apart, she could still rattle off his medical history without a second thought.

Snapping back to reality, I realized I had pinched the skin between my thumb and index finger so hard it was bruised red.

The crowd, oblivious to the tension, just assumed Ashly was acting shy and kept teasing her. "Oh give it a rest, stop playing the innocent caretaker!" "Did you forget how many times you rubbed Carters cramped legs after track practice?" "When he got heatstroke during gym class, you literally carried him halfway across campus to the nurse!"

Carter did not say a word, but his ears burned an even deeper shade of red.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed on the table. It was an email from the Paris Institute of Architecture. A formal acceptance and invitation.

The guy sitting next to me glanced at my glowing screen and gasped loudly. "Noah! You are going to Paris?!"

His voice was loud enough to cut through the chatter. Instantly, every eye in the room zeroed in on me. Ashly furrowed her brows, her expression unreadable.

"Oh yeah! You were always obsessed with architectural design back in college. Did not you want to switch majors at one point?" Someone remembered the old days and eagerly chimed in. "I remember! Noah entered that national design competition and took first place!" "Wait, did not a design firm invite you right after graduation? Why did you never go?"

I sat there in dead silence. A rare flicker of genuine guilt surfaced in Ashlys eyes.

Back then, we had only been dating for three months. She had gripped my hands so tightly, terrified that I was going to leave the country. "Noah, trust me. I will give you a beautiful life." "Please do not leave me. I cannot survive a long distance relationship where we only see each other twice a year."

To prove her absolute devotion, she drained her savings account and gave me every scholarship award she had ever earned. When I got my driver's license, she even bought me a car. Thinking about all my friends whose international long distance relationships ended in messy breakups, my heart softened.

I agreed to stay in the country. I took a mediocre job at a tiny, uninspired local design firm, doing the most basic, soul crushing drafting work.

"Something came up back then, so I could not go." My voice was incredibly soft, preserving my own dignity and saving Ashly from public embarrassment.

"Well what about now? Are you going to take it?" "This is an incredible opportunity man! Some people would kill for an offer like that and never get it their entire lives!"

My classmate was absolutely right. This was my final chance. The Paris Institute had broken their own protocol to send me a delayed invitation.

Before walking into this reunion tonight, I was genuinely torn. I did not want to throw away a five year relationship. And I did not want to lose Ashly.

But sitting here right now, I had absolutely zero reservations left.

"Yeah. I am going."

Seeing me nod, the guys around me broke into massive, genuinely happy smiles. "That is amazing! Let us all raise a glass to Noah!" "Our graduating class officially has a Parisian architect!"

Everyone eagerly raised their drinks in the air. Only Ashly remained frozen in her seat.

Carter patted her shoulder, urging her. "Come on, what are you spacing out for?"

Her face looked slightly pale. As she clinked her glass against the others, the glass slipped right through her trembling fingers. It shattered violently on the hardwood floor, splashing liquor all over my shoes and pants.

"Sorry." Ashly handed me a napkin, her face instantly returning to its usual cold composure. Those two simple, distant words made me want to laugh out loud.

I muttered an acknowledgment and walked out alone to the restroom to clean myself up.

A few minutes later, she followed me out. She stood quietly behind me as I wiped down my pants. "Are you seriously going to Paris?" Ashly glared at me through the mirror, her tone sounding more like an interrogation than a question.

After all, for the past five years, I had loved her so deeply I completely lost my own identity. I had thrown away my career for her once. In her mind, it was only natural that I would do it again. That I would throw away my dreams just to curl up in the pathetic scraps of her undivided attention.

I took a deep breath, cementing my decision. "Yes. I am certain."

Ashly did not take me seriously at all. Instead, she let out a scoffing laugh. "Stop throwing a tantrum." "I was literally just playing along with their jokes to be polite. Are you really going to be this petty?"

I did not say a word, my eyes dropping to her bare hands. Petty? Before she even walked into this venue tonight, she purposely took off our matching promise ring. That alone proved she never truly let him go. It proved she came here holding onto a tiny sliver of fantasy. A fantasy that they could rekindle their romance.

Just as I was about to speak, Carters voice echoed down the hallway. "Ashly, where are you? They are cutting the cake!"

She did not hesitate for a single second. She turned on her heel and walked right out. Through the crack in the door, I watched her sit down right next to Carter, intimately wiping a smudge of frosting off the corner of his mouth with her thumb.

Without looking away, I pulled out my phone, opened the airline app, and booked a one way ticket to Paris.

By the time the party wrapped up, everyone had drank way too much to drive home. The group collectively decided to book rooms at the luxury hotel right next door.

When it came time to distribute the room keys, everyone shared a collective, mischievous look and assigned Ashly and Carter to the same room.

"This is perfect! You two can stay up all night catching up. Say whatever you need to say, do whatever you need to do!" "We better be getting wedding invitations by the end of the year, and maybe a baby announcement!"

Carter bit his lower lip, his face flushed deep red. "You guys are terrible, stop making things up." He said the words, but his hand intentionally brushed against Ashlys arm. He was clearly soaking up every second of the teasing.

I stood there like a statue until everyone grabbed their room keycards and scattered into the elevators. I never looked at Ashly, and I never let a single trace of anger show on my face.

Late that night, just as I was getting ready to sleep, a sharp knock hit my door. Ashly was leaning against the doorframe, looking extremely irritated.

"Do not overthink things. He is taking the bed, and I am sleeping on the couch." "Absolutely nothing is going to happen between us."

I gave her a flat nod and started to push the door shut.

"Noah!" Her voice suddenly spiked, lacing with genuine anger and impatience. "When exactly are you going to stop throwing this little fit?"

I froze in place, genuinely confused about what 'fit' I was supposedly throwing. From the start of the reunion to the very end, I played the role of the distant, polite classmate perfectly. Even when I watched them getting overly intimate, even when I listened to the crowd demanding they get married, I did not flinch. Even right now, with her sharing a hotel room with the man she loved, I had not shown a single ounce of jealousy.

"I am not throwing a fit."

Ashly refused to listen, opting to just aggressively warn me instead. "Do not think that lying about moving to Paris is going to scare me into line." "Carter finally came back after all these years. Can you please not ruin his mood tonight?" "I promise you, when we wake up tomorrow morning, I will clear the air with everyone and tell them I already have a boyfriend."

Perhaps I just knew her too perfectly. The words slipped out of my mouth automatically. "Yeah. You will tell them you have a boyfriend, but you will deliberately leave out my name." "That way, they can keep assuming your boyfriend is Carter and keep cheering you on right in front of me, right?"

Having her exact manipulative thought process dragged out into the open, Ashlys face went ghost white. But that brief flash of guilt instantly morphed into defensive fury.

"Noah, when did you become so toxic and insecure?" "Since you want to act like this, you can drive home alone tomorrow and spend the whole ride reflecting on your attitude!"

She bit her lip, spun around, and stormed off, the wind from her movement sweeping past my door. That cold gust of air felt like a physical slap across the face.

I laughed. I actually laughed out loud. My jaw clenched so tight it ached, but I did not utter another word.

My phone buzzed. The alumni group chat was blowing up. "Holy crap, can anyone else feel the walls shaking from Ashly and Carter's room?" "I swear I just heard him call her a wild thing!" "It is official! We are definitely getting good news tomorrow morning!"

Notification after notification popped onto my screen. My thumb hovered over the glowing glass until the screen finally timed out and went black.

I tossed my phone onto the passenger seat, leaned back against the leather headrest, and closed my eyes. The only sound was the quiet hum of my car engine.

The second the sun rose, I checked out of the hotel. I drove straight to our apartment and packed my suitcases.

Sitting at the terminal, just as my flight was called for boarding, I sent one final message to the group chat.

"Sorry everyone. Had to catch an early flight, so I took off first."

Hitting send, I powered my phone down completely. I looked out the massive glass windows, taking one final look at the city skyline.

Ashly, our five years ends right here.