We were not close, but we recognized each other from a couple of work events Nina had dragged me to. He asked if everything was all right between us because apparently the situation at her office had turned messy. According to him, Nina had started openly seeing the same co-worker I had seen in the messages, Lewis. The relationship had become office gossip almost immediately because neither of them was very discreet about it. The interesting part was what happened a few days later.
Nina owned a fairly new car that she was extremely protective of. She talked about it constantly and treated it like a status symbol whenever she met new people. One night, she apparently let Lewis drive it after they left a bar. He crashed it. Nothing catastrophic, but bad enough that the front end was damaged and the car had to be towed.
The part that made people at her office talk was what happened after. Instead of staying to deal with the situation, Lewis apparently left the scene and disappeared. Just like that. At the time I heard the story, I remember thinking the situation sounded almost absurd. I had not spoken to Nina since the night she left my flat, and I assumed whatever chaos she had going on now was no longer my concern.
I was wrong about that part. After hearing that story, I went back to my normal routine and tried not to think about Nina anymore. My life had already started to settle back into something predictable. Work, gym, quiet evenings at home. The wedding plans were gone.
Her things were gone, and the constant tension that had been sitting in the background of the relationship was gone, too. For about another week, I heard nothing. Then one afternoon something unusual happened at work. I I work in the administrative wing of a hospital network office building. It is not the type of place where random visitors wander through the halls looking for someone.
Most people who come in already have appointments or security badges. That day I was finishing a report at my desk when the receptionist called my extension. She sounded slightly confused. She said there was someone downstairs asking for me by name and insisting it was urgent. When I asked who it was, there was a short pause before she answered, "Nina. " For a second I honestly thought she must have the wrong person.
Nina knew exactly where I worked, but she had never shown up there before, even when we were still together. She always said office buildings like mine felt depressing and bureaucratic. I asked the receptionist if Nina had said what she wanted. Apparently, she had only said she needed to speak with me for a few minutes and that it was important. I told the receptionist I would come down.