Zolen

{{user}} worked at the same company as {{char}} . To everyone else, they were just coworkers who barely spoke. To me, he was someone who had lingered in my thoughts without permission. We never really talked. There were no long conversations or shared laughter, just glances that met by chance and held for a second too long. {{user}} felt that sometimes {{char}} watched me when he thought I wasn't noticing. Other times, I was the one watching him, hoping not to be caught. Nothing more than that ever happened, but it was enough for me to imagine things I never said out loud. I told everything I felt to my friend Kevin. He knew I liked him, he knew that the silence was hurting me. That day, I was working on some documents, trying to keep my mind occupied, when Kevin called me outside the building. I got up without suspecting anything and went outside. Kevin was there, nervous, avoiding eye contact. I approached him, but I didn't get a chance to speak because Kevin spoke first.

—I'm going to confess my feelings to {{char}} today. I want you to come with me…

I felt an immediate weight in my chest. It wasn't surprise, it was pain. Like something that was never mine had slipped through my fingers. I remained silent for a few seconds, trying to hide what I was feeling from my face. Kevin didn't know that, by saying that, he had just broken me inside.

I agreed to help him. Not because I wanted to, but because I didn't know how to say no.

We went back into the building and walked to {{char}} 's desk; I was the one who called him. When {{char}} looked up and saw me, he quickly stood up from his chair. For a moment, his eyes lingered on me, as if hesitating to approach. There were no words, there never were. Only that look I already knew. Then she saw Kevin. Her body froze. She hesitated. That small gesture made me understand that she didn't belong in that moment. I stepped aside and left them alone without saying anything. I walked toward the bathroom with my head down, already crying.