The Miami Promise

My work-slacking buddy and I were hiding in the break room, scrolling on our phones, when she showed me an Instagram post her boyfriend had just sent her. “Hey, isn’t Mr. Bennett supposed to be in New York on business? Since when does New York have beaches like that?” When I opened Instagram to check, I discovered he’d hidden the post from me. And his childhood sweetheart had just posted the same photos. I clung to the hope that it was all a misunderstanding. Until his childhood sweetheart used Ethan Bennett’s phone to show other people my intimate photos. Ethan’s trembling voice came from above me. “Chloe, let me explain—” “I’ll only be gone for two days. I’ll be back before you know it. Take care of yourself while I’m away.” Ethan had been lingering by our front door for over ten minutes. He looked even more reluctant to leave than I felt. I nodded absently and nudged him toward the door. “I know. You’ve told me a dozen times since last night.” “Get going. At this rate, you’ll miss your flight.” Ethan kissed my forehead. “When I get back, I’ll take you to Miami. You’ve always wanted to go.” That had been my birthday wish five years ago. He’d promised to take me when he had time. I’d waited and waited. Somehow, five years had passed. I’d practically forgotten about it. I never imagined he still remembered. Delighted, I rose onto my toes, cupped his face, and kissed him. “Okay. But you’d better keep your promise. I’ll be waiting.” Whenever Ethan left on a business trip, everyone on the executive support team could finally relax. He was a total workaholic who took his job seriously. If someone made a mistake, the rest of us silently prayed for them. Being his girlfriend didn’t spare me, either. If I deserved a lecture, I got one. A coworker I was close to tapped my cubicle wall and tipped her chin toward the break room. “Water break?” That was our code for slacking off. I saved the spreadsheet I was working on, grabbed my water bottle, and followed her. We hid in the break room’s supply closet and scrolled through our phones. Suddenly, she nudged me with her elbow and held up her screen. “Hey, isn’t Mr. Bennett supposed to be in New York on business? Since when does New York have beaches like that?” I leaned closer. It was an Instagram post Ethan had uploaded an hour earlier, with nine photos. I’d never been to Miami, but I’d researched it obsessively back when I was looking forward to going with him. One look at those photos, and I knew where they’d been taken. But I hadn’t seen that post in my feed. Thinking I’d missed it, I opened Instagram to check again. The first thing I saw was a post Natalie Hayes had uploaded half an hour earlier. She’d posted nine photos too. I opened the one in the middle several times, making sure I wasn’t imagining things. My coworker leaned over and gasped. “Isn’t that Mr. Bennett…?” Yes. It was Ethan and Natalie on the beach together, both wearing swimsuits. And Ethan really had hidden his post from me. My coworker glanced at my darkening expression and stumbled through an attempt to comfort me. “Everyone knows Natalie and Mr. Bennett grew up together. It’s probably normal for them to take trips together.” I stared at that painful photo. “Is it?” They could have gone anywhere. Why did it have to be Miami? Natalie might not have known what that meant to me. But Ethan did.Ethan and I had known each other for years. I transferred to his high school in eleventh grade after my parents relocated for work. The curriculum and teaching methods were different from my old school’s, so I struggled at first. On my first day, Ethan, our class representative, showed me around. He was handsome, polite, and from a wealthy family. He was also consistently at the top of our class. He was the boy countless girls had a crush on. I was no exception. My grades dropped on my first round of tests at the new school, exactly as I’d feared. Sometimes, you fall for someone in the smallest moments. Whenever I got a practice question wrong, Ethan would tap my forehead with his pen. I’d cover my forehead and complain that it hurt. He’d put on a stern face and tell me that would help me remember. But whenever my grades improved, no matter how little, he’d have a small gift ready for me. Once, our classmates teased him for playing favorites. After that, he still gave me gifts, but he started giving them to other people too. It bothered me a little, though I couldn’t exactly say so. Graduation came quickly. I planned to tell Ethan how I felt after our last finals. Who knew he had the same plan—and would beat me to it? After we started dating, he made a point of explaining the gifts. It was a bitterly cold late-fall evening. He stood between me and the wind. “Until we were officially together, saying things that could give people the wrong idea would’ve been unfair to you.” “I couldn’t let my feelings turn you into a target for gossip.” When Ethan returned from his “business trip,” he brought me piles of designer jewelry and handbags. He bought me gifts often, but he’d never been this extravagant. I didn’t mention Miami. At first, he kept asking when I wanted to go. But when he saw how little enthusiasm I had, he stopped bringing it up. Eight years wasn’t something I could dismiss with a few words. I clung to whatever hope I could find, telling myself it was only a lie and a broken promise. That didn’t necessarily mean anything. But even as I forced myself to believe that ridiculous excuse, I couldn’t stand his touch. My revulsion became physical. I felt sick enough to throw up, and I kept losing focus at work. Someone knocked hard on my desk. Natalie stood over me with her arms crossed, looking displeased. “Ms. Parker, being Ethan’s girlfriend doesn’t mean you can act however you want at work.” “I’ve asked you several times to bring a pot of first-flush green tea to Ethan’s office. Are you pretending you can’t hear me?” I snapped out of my daze. “I’m sorry. I was distracted.” “Please make yourself comfortable in his office. I’ll bring the tea right in.” I was at work. I couldn’t let my personal feelings affect my job. A guest was still a guest. Natalie stared hard at my face. Instead of fading, her anger seemed to grow.Then something seemed to occur to her. Her anger vanished, replaced by a strange little smile. In a much better mood, she clicked back to Ethan’s office in her heels. Ethan was still in his regular meeting, though it should have been nearly over. I knocked on his office door and carried the tea inside. Natalie and several of Ethan’s friends were engrossed in a phone. “Damn, Ethan. He took this many…?” But the moment I walked in, every gaze shifted to me. Their eyes traveled up and down my body, full of mockery. I swallowed my discomfort and lowered myself onto one knee beside the coffee table to pour their tea. One of the rich boys picked up the cup I’d placed before him and took a leisurely sip. Then, before I could react, he flung the tea onto my blouse. The scalding liquid burned my chest. My bra showed clearly through the soaked fabric. They whistled at me. I quickly raised the tray to cover my chest. The man who’d thrown the tea snatched the lit-up phone from Natalie and tossed it onto the coffee table. “Why act so innocent? You weren’t this shy when you were fucking Ethan.” The others chimed in. “Exactly.” For a few seconds, I couldn’t process what was happening. Then I mechanically looked down at the familiar phone. On the screen were intimate photos Ethan had taken of me. His promises echoed in my ears. “You’re my girlfriend. Why would I ever show these to anyone?” “Even if I lost my phone, it’s passcode-protected. Nobody could see them.” I felt as though they’d stripped me naked and put me on display in the middle of the street. Their stares were dull blades scraping every inch of my skin. Natalie lounged on the couch, admiring her fresh manicure. She sneered. “Didn’t your parents teach you to have some self-respect—” A pot of scalding tea splashed over her. She leaped off the couch. “Ah! Are you insane?” Shaking with rage, I hurled the glass teapot onto the coffee table. It shattered, spraying glass everywhere. The men scrambled out of the way. I picked Ethan’s phone out of the sharp fragments and opened its settings. Just then, the office door opened. Ethan froze when he saw the phone in my hand. Then he took in the wrecked coffee table and Natalie’s loud sobbing. He seemed to understand what had happened. He stood motionless in the doorway, as if his mind had shut down. The eight years I’d fought so hard to hold on to became nothing but a joke.I looked down and restored his phone to its factory settings. After it restarted, I checked to make sure nothing remained. A hand suddenly caught mine as I swiped across the screen. Ethan’s trembling voice came from above me. “Chloe, let me explain—” “Ethan, did you have fun in Miami?” I pulled free and looked up at him. A faint smile touched my lips, but it never reached my eyes. He looked as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. His eyes reddened, and every word he wanted to say caught in his mouth. My smile disappeared. I shoved the phone into his hand. “Ethan, we’re done.” I’d rehearsed those words in my head for two weeks. At last, I’d said them. I stepped around him and headed for the door. He hurried after me. “Chloe… We can’t just break up like this.” “Ethan, she burned me! You can’t leave with her!” Natalie’s furious voice rang out behind us. His hands curled into fists at his sides, his knuckles cracking. I turned to look at him. He’d stopped dead. I sighed, then couldn’t help laughing. At myself, for all the excuses I’d made for him. When my department manager saw my resignation letter, she went quiet for a long time. Finally, she voiced her suspicion. “Are you resigning because you and Mr. Bennett are finally getting married after eight years? Do you need time to plan the wedding?” I glanced down at my bare ring finger and smiled calmly. “No. We broke up.” Natalie had been hospitalized for her burns, and Ethan spent the next few days at the hospital. I returned to the home we’d shared for four years, packed my things, and rolled my suitcase out of the city I’d lived in for just as long. Back in my hometown, I quickly found a new job through a referral from my friend Sophie. Time flew. Before I knew it, a year had passed. I went with my boss to a hotel to discuss a deal. As his assistant, my job was to handle the drinks and say all the right things. Several rounds later, we finally closed the deal. After seeing my boss off at the hotel entrance, I turned away from the wind and pulled my coat tighter. I took out my phone to ask Sophie when she’d arrive. Behind me, the revolving door turned. I glanced over—and found myself looking straight at the man walking out. Someone beside Ethan was talking to him, but he stopped in his tracks. For that brief moment, even the dust drifting through the air seemed to slow. I calmly looked away and walked out into the cold wind. I’d only taken a few steps when someone grabbed my hand from behind.