Three days.
Exactly three days had passed since Denisse witnessed the one thing that shattered whatever hope she still had.
Lesley's lips on another woman's.
The memory refused to fade. Every time she closed her eyes, the same moment found its way back to her. A pair of lips meeting. A heartbeat suspended in time. Then the sharp, familiar ache that followed, as if her mind had trapped itself inside that single instant, replaying it until it blurred into something she could no longer escape.
A dull clink echoed across the quiet balcony as Denisse set her coffee cup on the small iron table. The coffee had long since gone cold, untouched after only a single sip. The bitter taste still lingered on her tongue, but it was nothing compared to the bitterness sitting heavily inside her chest.
The city stretched beneath the hotel balcony, alive with morning traffic, distant conversations, and the occasional car horn drifting through the air. Life carried on as if nothing had happened.
As if her world hadn't ended three days ago.
She wrapped her arms around herself, the cool breeze brushing against her skin. It should have felt refreshing. Instead, it only reminded her how empty she felt.
She had stayed in this hotel ever since.
Not because she liked it here.
Because she knew Lesley would look for her.
And her apartment would be the first place she'd go.
Denisse couldn't bear the thought of opening that door and seeing her standing there. She couldn't survive another look into those familiar eyes. Not after what she'd seen.
Not after that kiss.
She had gone to Lesley that day hoping for answers. Hoping that once they finally talked, everything Daphne had said would be proven wrong. She had wanted so desperately to believe that Daphne had misunderstood Lesley. That there was another side to the story. That the feelings between them had been real.
Instead...
Lesley answered every question without saying a single word.
That kiss had explained everything.
It had confirmed every warning Daphne had given her.
It had told Denisse exactly where Lesley's heart belonged.
Back with her.
Back where it had probably always been.
A shaky breath escaped her.
How foolish.
She had spent so much time questioning herself, wondering if she had imagined the meaning behind it all. Every smile Lesley reserved for her. Every lingering touch. Every kiss they shared. Every night spent tangled in each other's arms. Every quiet moment that had made the rest of the world disappear. Every unspoken gesture that had convinced Denisse she was more than just another passing chapter in Lesley's life. Now she couldn't help but wonder if she had been the only one who had felt any of it.
She had treasured each one as proof that what existed between them was different.
Now those same memories only mocked her.
The warmth she had once clung to now felt like something she had invented, a meaning she had woven around moments that had never belonged to her in the way she'd believed.
Daphne had warned her.
A part of Denisse had listened. It was why she had pulled away, why she had kept her distance despite everything she felt.
But another part of her had still hoped.
Hoped Daphne had been wrong.
Hoped Lesley would prove her wrong.
Instead, all that hope had unraveled before her eyes.
Maybe Denisse had never been special.
Maybe she had only been another woman who had fallen for Lesley's warmth, mistaking it for something that belonged to her alone.
The realization settled inside her like ice.
She laughed once under her breath, but the sound broke halfway through and dissolved into a sob.
Hot tears blurred the skyline until the buildings melted into shapeless colors. She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes, but it didn't stop the tears from slipping through her fingers.
It hurt.
God...
It hurt so much.
The ache wasn't loud anymore. It wasn't the violent kind that stole her breath.
It was quieter than that.
Constant.
Relentless.
The kind of pain that settled into her bones and refused to leave.
When she finally lowered her hands, her gaze drifted back into the hotel room.
An envelope rested neatly on the desk beside her laptop.
Inside was her resignation letter.
She hadn't written it out of anger.
She hadn't typed it through tears in the middle of the night or made the decision on impulse.
She had spent the last three days thinking.
Thinking until every possibility had been exhausted.
There was no version of tomorrow where she could walk into that office, see Lesley every day, and pretend nothing had happened. No version where she could smile through meetings while carrying the memory of that kiss.
She refused to become another woman waiting for scraps of affection from someone who had never truly chosen her.
No.
She deserved at least this much.
Distance.
Silence.
A chance to breathe without Lesley's presence haunting every corner of her life.
Resigning wasn't just about leaving the company anymore.
It was about choosing herself for the first time.
Because if she stayed...
The wound would only deepen.
And forgetting Lesley would become impossible.
-
By the time Denisse stepped into the company lobby, she had exhausted every ounce of courage she could gather.
The familiar marble floors gleamed beneath the morning lights. The receptionist greeted her with the same polite smile as always. Employees crossed the lobby carrying folders, chatting over cups of coffee, rushing toward elevators as another workday unfolded around them.
Everything looked exactly the same.
Only she wasn't.
The resignation letter rested inside her bag, its edges pressing against the fabric like a constant reminder of why she was here. Beside it lay the key to the car Lesley had given her.
She tightened her grip around the strap of her bag.
This was the last thing she had to do.
After today...
She wouldn't have to see Lesley again.
The thought should have brought relief.
Instead, it hollowed her out.
She stepped into the elevator, and the mirrored walls reflected a woman who barely looked like herself. Pale. Tired. Eyes still carrying the traces of sleepless nights no amount of makeup could completely hide.
As the elevator climbed, more employees stepped inside.
"Good morning, Ms. Denisse."
She managed a small smile, one practiced enough to pass for genuine.
"Good morning."
The doors opened onto the executive floor with a soft chime.
Silence greeted her.
Unlike the bustling offices below, this floor remained calm, almost untouched by the rush of the morning. Every desk sat neatly arranged. Every conversation stayed hushed. It looked exactly as it had on the day she first walked these halls.
Her feet carried her down the corridor almost on their own.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
At the end of the hallway stood the office she had entered countless times before.
The office that had once felt strangely comforting.
Now it felt impossibly distant.
Denisse stopped outside the door.
Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag until her knuckles turned white.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment.
Just do this.
She smoothed the front of her blazer with trembling hands, forcing herself to look composed. A slow breath filled her lungs before she finally raised her hand.
Two soft knocks.
"...Come in."
Lesley's voice.
Even after three days, hearing it still made something inside her chest ache.
Denisse wrapped her hand around the doorknob and quietly pushed the door open.
Lesley sat behind her desk, her attention fixed on a stack of documents. A fountain pen glided across the page as she signed another file with practiced ease, not bothering to look up.
"What is it?" she asked absently, her eyes never leaving the document. "Just leave it on the desk."
Denisse stepped inside, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
For one dangerous moment, Denisse let herself linger.
She stood there silently, taking in the sight of Lesley.
Focused.
Unchanged.
Brown strands of hair spilled over one shoulder, catching the morning light pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Long lashes cast faint shadows against her cheeks as she turned another page and signed her name with effortless precision.
It was a sight Denisse had stolen countless glances at over the past months.
She shouldn't have looked.
It only made leaving harder.
Swallowing the ache rising in her throat, she forced herself forward.
One step.
Then another.
The quiet rhythm of her heels against the floor finally broke Lesley's concentration.
She looked up.
Their eyes met.
For a heartbeat, everything else disappeared.
The pen slipped from Lesley's fingers, rolling across the desk.
"Denisse..."
She was on her feet before Denisse could react.
In two hurried strides, the distance between them vanished.
Warm arms wrapped around Denisse.
The embrace was tight enough to steal the air from her lungs.
"Where have you been?" Lesley's voice trembled beside her ear. "I've been looking for you everywhere."
For a moment, Denisse couldn't move.
The familiar scent of Lesley's perfume surrounded her, painfully familiar, painfully comforting. Her body almost betrayed her, instinct urging her to return the embrace she had missed every second of the last three days.
But then the memory surfaced.
A kiss.
Another woman's lips.
Her chest tightened.
Slowly, she lifted her hands, not to hold Lesley, but to gently push her away.
She took a step back, forcing the distance between them.
Without meeting Lesley's eyes, she opened her bag.
She laid an envelope on the desk.
Then the car key beside it.
The quiet click of metal against polished wood sounded deafening.
"I'm here to submit my resignation," she said, her voice far steadier than she felt. "And to return this."