I stood there for a second longer than I should have, and Laura walked in from the kitchen and snapped at me for hovering like a weirdo. I told her I was just tired. Which was true, but now I couldn't stop thinking about why an ex who was blocked would be popping up on her screen at all. The next morning, I didn't bring it up.
I made coffee, packed my lunch, and left like normal. Laura barely looked up from her phone. She asked if I could send her the login for the wedding venue portal because she wanted to double-check the seating chart again. Not because anything was wrong.
Just because she likes to circle problems until she invents one. At work, I tried to focus, but my brain kept replaying that notification. Nico. A name that should not exist in our life anymore.
Around midday, Laura texted me a list of things she wanted to upgrade. A different cake tasting because the one we tried was too plain. Linen napkins instead of paper. A photo booth because her cousin's wedding had one and it looked fun.
I replied with a simple, "We can talk tonight." She sent back a thumbs-down emoji like I was her annoying employee. I got home late again. Laura was in the bedroom with the door mostly closed.
Not fully shut, just enough to signal, do not enter. I could hear her laughing. The kind of laugh she does when she is trying to impress someone. When I walked past, the laughing stopped.
She opened the door a minute later and came out with that fake casual face. She told me she was on the phone with her friend B, and then immediately asked why I was looking at her like that. I said I wasn't. She shrugged and said, "Whatever," and then asked if I had picked up the deposit receipt for the florist.
I reminded her I paid it online last week. She rolled her eyes and said, "I know. I just like having paper copies because you forget things." That was a new thing, too.
Little jabs about my reliability while I was basically funding the whole production. After dinner, she took a shower and left her phone on the counter. I didn't grab it. I didn't need to.
I'm not proud of the thought that came next, but I'm also not going to pretend I'm above it. I looked at her laptop again. I didn't open her messages. I didn't need to hack anything.
She had left a tab open with her email, and there was a confirmation from a restaurant I recognized. Not one she and I ever went to. A reservation for two. The name on the reservation was Laura.
The note said, "Anniversary table if possible." Anniversary. I checked the date. It was for the next night, when she told me she was going to a work dinner.
My stomach went cold, but my face stayed calm. I took a photo of the screen with my own phone. Then I closed the laptop exactly how I found it and went to the living room like nothing happened. When Laura came out of the bathroom, she was in a good mood.