I Left the Triangle They Thought I Needed Chapter 01

At the dinner table, James Harrison peeled sixteen shrimp. He gave thirteen to Natalie Cole, kept two for himself, and handed me the last one.

That was how he ranked the three of us.

Every time we went out, he said bringing my best friend along was just convenient. But every time, I was the convenient one.

I wanted to see the ocean. She said it smelled too fishy. So we went hiking instead, and they left me far behind on the trail.

I booked movie tickets, but he canceled the whole thing when he realized there wasn’t a seat next to us for her.

What was supposed to be a two-person date always turned into a three-person hangout.

“We’re all off today. Let’s relax together. You don’t mind, right?”

He didn’t even look up when he said it. He was reading a message on his phone, probably from the firm.

Natalie leaned over naturally. “That case? I actually organized those files.”

They shared the same major, the same temperament, even the same taste in food: seafood.

I’m severely allergic. I got up and left. Neither of them noticed anything wrong.

I was done with this three-person game.

…

I went to see the afternoon movie we were supposed to watch together. It was a comedy, but I couldn’t laugh.

My heart ached. Every neglected moment played out on the screen, overlapping with the movie.

My phone buzzed. James texted the group chat.

[Emily, where did you go?]

It had been over an hour since I left. He was only asking now.

I didn’t reply.

Natalie tagged me: [Emily, are you upset? Do you want me to come keep you company?]

James replied: [She’s just being dramatic again. Ignore her. She’ll be fine in a few days.]

I was always the one throwing tantrums, never shutting up.

They would calm me down with their cool, collected stares, looking at me like I was a child who didn’t understand anything.

Tears hit my screen. The group chat was called “First Sight, First Spark.”

I used to think he named it to mark our six years together. But the first sight that made his heart race wasn’t me. It was Natalie.

Scrolling up, I realized I barely said anything in that chat.

They talked about work, about food, about anything and everything.

Whenever I sent a message, I only ever got a few dismissive words back.

Yeah. Fine. Okay.

The next morning, I was cleaning the front desk at the law firm when I saw the photos on the wall.

James and Natalie were both excellent lawyers. They’d known each other since high school. To everyone, they were the golden couple, the dream team.

I had taken the bar exam three times and failed every single time.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t catch up to them.

“Emily, I brought you breakfast.”

Natalie walked in and set a sandwich in front of me.

It was from her favorite place, the one James drove half an hour across town to every morning because she liked it.

“My stomach is sensitive. I can’t eat cold food.”

She winced. “Oh, right. I forgot.”

James and Natalie both had photographic memories. They’d known each other for years. How could she possibly forget something like that?

“What do you want? I can order something for you right now?”

She pulled out her phone and started scrolling.

She kept that worried look on her face, acting like nothing had happened.

“It’s fine. I’m not hungry.”

James cut in. “Natalie, just leave her alone. She’s having another one of her episodes.”

“We have a ton of work to do. Let’s go.”

She gave me an apologetic smile. “I’ll find you at lunch.”

Then they disappeared into the cubicles.

Once things quieted down, I picked up my phone and opened my chat history with James.

The last message had been a week ago.

It was pouring rain that day. I asked: [Can you come pick me up?]

After a long time, he replied: [Natalie and I are out with a client. Just call an Uber.]

Then he sent me two hundred dollars via Venmo.

I didn’t accept it. He never asked again.

He bought a car, but I’d only ridden in it a handful of times.

He was always busy. Too busy to even have a real conversation with me.

The coworkers next to me were whispering.

“Did you hear? James and Natalie are together.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“One hundred percent. Last month my friend saw them on a date at a steakhouse. She has photos.”

“Peak intellectual chemistry. Honestly, relationship goals.”

Another coworker nudged my arm. “Aren’t you and Natalie best friends? So what’s the real story?”

I picked up my water bottle. “Thirsty. Going to get water.”

Last month I was hospitalized for food poisoning. James told me he was on a business trip. He was actually with Natalie.

He had never gone public with our relationship. He always just called me a friend, always in a hurry to distance himself from me.

Now the office was full of rumors about him and Natalie, and he didn’t say a word to stop them.

I leaned against the wall in the break room and heard voices from the conference room next door.

“James, we can’t keep doing this.”

“If Emily finds out, she’ll be devastated.”