Page 20 of The Valentine Agenda

"Two hours," Mrs. Chen was saying. "Poor girl sat there the whole time, just waiting."

James barely listened, more focused on protecting his Italian leather from salt stains. These residents were always gossiping about something.

"And he just... left her there?" Mr. Thompson's voice carried clear indignation. "Didn't even call?"

"Didn't even text." Mrs. Chen's tone could have frozen water. "Just walked out and never came back."

James's lip curled slightly as he inspected his shoes. Some people really had no class.He'dnever—

"She kept making excuses for him," Mrs. Peterson joined in. "Told the waiter there must have been an emergency."

Something nagged at the edge of James's consciousness. A faint echo of recognition that he tried to brush away.

"The bill was almost nine hundred dollars." Mrs. Chen's words fell into a heavy silence. "She put it on her credit card. Didn't even hesitate."

James's hands stilled on his shoes.

"At least she held it together until she got home," Ray the superintendent added. "Though the snow in her hair, the way she was shaking... never seen her look so small."

The sick feeling started in James's stomach. Snow. Last night. An expensive restaurant.

No. They couldn't be talking about—

"You know what kills me?" Mrs. Peterson again. "She was so excited. Spent all that time getting ready. And for what? To sit there while everyone stared and whispered?"

James's collar felt suddenly tight.

"What kind of man," Mr. Thompson's voice dripped with contempt, "uses a sweet girl like that for some revenge plot against his ex?"

Revenge plot.The words echoed in his head, bouncing off memories of Instagram posts and carefully chosen table placements.

"She's too good for him anyway," Ray declared. "All those mornings helping residents, organizing community events. Meanwhile, he can't even look up from his phone long enough to say good morning."

Oh god.

Theyweretalking about him.

He was the jerk in their story.

"You know what breaks my heart?" Mrs. Peterson sighed. "She'll make excuses for him, just like she did at that fancy restaurant. She'll probably even smile at him in the lobby tomorrow."

"She might," Mrs. Chen's voice carried clear across the marble floor. "But we won't."

James straightened abruptly, his movement echoing in the lobby. The voices in the common room went quiet, then deliberately louder.

"Did you hear something?" Mrs. Peterson asked pointedly.

"Just the sound of someone realizing he's not as perfect as he thinks he is," Mrs. Chen replied.

James turned toward the elevators, needing to escape. But his reflection caught him in the polished brass doors. He saw the man who left a woman sitting alone for two hours at Nero's on Valentine's Day.

The man who skipped out on the bill.

The man who—his stomach lurched—had already posted the photos on Instagram.

"Running away again?"

He turned to find Mrs. Chen watching him, her small frame somehow filling the lobby.

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