“Ms. Kay, you’re here! I thought you weren’ting,” Ron said, striding in with a bag just as I was


    checking


    if breakfast had somehow disappeared into thin air.


    “Ta–da! Breakfast!” he announced.


    At that moment, it clicked.


    Breakfast had arrived all right–just not the one Wayne sent.


    I gave Ron a look, waiting. He didn’t usually bring me breakfast without some kind of reason.


    Sure enough, as he set the food down, he said, “I got called in at five this morning, and I was


    starving, so I, uh, ate the breakfast on your desk. This one’s a recement.”


    Oh, please. Like I was buying that.


    But I was too tired to start anything. “You didn’t have to rece it. I already ate.”


    Total lie. I hadn’t eaten at all; I’d barely had an appetite the past few days. And when I did eat, I just


    felt queasy.


    “Come on, I can’t let you skip breakfast. Unless… you’re saying my choice isn’t good enough?” Ron


    asked, giving me a smirk. “This is custom–made, just for you.”


    I cracked a smile. “Custom–made, huh? Guess I’ll see. If it looks good, maybe I’ll try a bite.”


    I opened the container: shrimp bisque, garlic toast, and my go–to side sd.


    Yup, I knew exactly who’d picked thisbo.


    “Perfect, right? It looks good, smells good, and it’s all the nutrition you need!” Ron said, already


    unwrapping the utensils.


    I snapped the lid shut. “Eh, doesn’t look that appetizing. Not really feeling it.”


    Ron froze. “Wait, this is all your favorite stuff. Howe you-?”


    I cut him off, locking eyes with him. “How do you even know what my favorite foods are?”


    Ron stammered, 1-1 heard you mention it. You told me, like, in one of our chats.”


    Yeah, right. That was the worst cover ever. I knew Hayden had sent him to deliver this, even though


    we were over. And the fact he was still pulling these stunts? Frustrating… and confusing.


    What was he trying to prove here?


    Part of me wanted to throw the food back in Hayden’s face and demand an answer. But I held back.


    If he wanted a reaction, he’d get the opposite.


    “Just because I used to like it doesn’t mean I still do. People change. You can stop liking someone


    halfway through life–why not breakfast?” I pushed the container back toward Ron.


    Ron looked flustered. “Uh, okay… so what do you want to eat? Just tell me, and I’ll–I’ll have


    someone bring it.”


    He looked desperate, like he was under orders to make sure I ate.


    “Peri bacon potato cakes,” I said, throwing out something totally random that Macy used to make


    back in Chiverton. Delicious, but practically incendiary.


    Ron looked utterly lost. “Wait, what? Perl… what?”


    Exactly. Piri bacon potato cakes weren’t exactly popr in Seavora, so I wasn’t surprised. But


    Hayden would’ve known.


    “See? You don’t even know what I want, let alone how to get it. Just take this so I can get back to


    work,” I said, waving him off.


    Ron looked at the food, hesitating. “Just eat this for now, and I’ll figure out the Peri thingter.”


    Hayden was obviously trying to show he still cared with this whole breakfast stunt. But I wasn’t


    about to give him the satisfaction.


    If he wanted to y breakup games, then fine. I’d y it better and leave him hanging.


    “Mr. Shane, I really can’t eat,” I said, adding an extra touch of drama. “I’ve been feeling nauseous


    the few days. Just looking at food makes me want to throw up.” Perfect excuse to get rid of it.


    past


    Ron’s eyes went wide as he looked at me. A secondter, he practically bolted with the food. “Okay,


    okay. I’ll take it.”


    As soon as the door clicked shut, I swallowed hard.


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