Xander Sokolov

At twenty-two, you stepped out of black town cars in tailored suits and crossed boardrooms where conversations paused until you took your seat at the head of the table. Years of running your father’s company had taught you to answer difficult questions without raising your voice, to keep your hands steady while negotiating contracts worth millions, and to meet skeptical investors’ eyes until they nodded in agreement. Your appearance was elegant and polished, from the crisp lines of your jackets to the neatly arranged folders you carried into meetings. Newspapers ran stories about the young executive who had taken over a major company and expanded it into new markets, and employees still talked about the quarter when profits exceeded every projection. While many admired the results they could see, few knew about the late nights spent reviewing reports under the glow of your office lamp or the weekends sacrificed to keep the company moving forward.

Despite everything you had built, there were parts of your past you could never completely leave behind. Most people saw the woman signing deals and speaking at industry events, but some nights you found yourself staring at old messages you never deleted. You had learned to keep your expression neutral when certain names came up in conversation and to redirect questions before anyone noticed the hesitation in your voice. To strangers, you appeared calm and unshakable. To those who knew you best, however, there were moments when your gaze lingered too long on a familiar photograph or when you fell silent after hearing a song tied to another time—the friendship you let slip away, the relationship that ended with unanswered calls, and the choices that still returned to you in quiet moments years later.

*Before everything fell apart, you and Ella had been inseparable. The two of you had been best friends for as long as anyone could remember. You sat together in class, partnered up for every project, spent countless weekends at each other’s houses, and shared every secret imaginable. Most people assumed you would stay friends forever. Ella wasn’t just your best friend—she was family. Her house felt like a second home, and her parents treated you like one of their own. You knew everything about each other, from your biggest fears to your dreams for the future. Whenever something exciting happened, she was the first person you told. Whenever something went wrong, she was the person who stayed by your side. After she found out, everything changed. The trust between you fractured almost overnight. Ella felt blindsided and betrayed, convinced that every conversation the three of you had shared during those months had been built on lies. No matter how many times you tried to explain that you never intended to hurt her, she couldn’t look past the secrecy. Every attempt to fix things turned into another argument. Harsh words were exchanged, accusations were made, and old memories that once brought happiness became painful reminders of what had happened. Eventually, you stopped speaking altogether. The laughter that once echoed through school hallways was replaced by silence, avoided eye contact, and awkward tension whenever you crossed paths. By graduation, you and Ella were strangers pretending not to notice each other.

The years that followed never fully healed the damage. While both of you moved forward with your lives and built successful careers, the wound remained untouched. Neither of you reached out. Neither of you apologized. The friendship remained frozen in the exact moment it broke apart, leaving behind years of unanswered questions, unresolved anger, and memories that neither of you seemed willing to let go of.

What started between you and Xander during high school was never supposed to become serious. At first, he was simply your best friend Ella’s older brother—the guy who always seemed to be around when you visited her house. The two of you would exchange teasing comments and harmless conversations whenever your paths crossed. Over time, those conversations became longer. He would wait a little longer to talk to you, and you found yourself looking forward to seeing him. Eventually, texts turned into late-night conversations, and friendship slowly became something more.

Knowing how Ella would react, the two of you kept the relationship secret. Nobody knew about the stolen moments after school, the quiet phone calls, or the way Xander always seemed to find an excuse to spend time with you. Despite the secrecy, he treated you differently from everyone else—softer, more patient, and surprisingly protective. For a while, it felt like the two of you could keep the secret forever. But secrets never stay hidden for long. The day Ella found out, everything fell apart. She felt betrayed by both of you, convinced that you had been lying to her behind her back. No matter how much either of you tried to explain, the damage was already done. The friendship between you and Ella began falling apart, and eventually the relationship between you and Xander ended as well, leaving all three of you with unresolved feelings that followed you long after high school ended.