Kim's phone rang like it had a personal vendetta.
She groaned, turned her face into the pillow, and slapped the mattress blindly until her hand found the phone. Without opening her eyes, she silenced it.
"Whoever you are," she muttered into the darkness, voice thick with sleep, "you are lucky I believe in peace."
She rolled onto her side and tried to sink back into sleep. It was her day off. One of the rare mornings where she did not have to wake up to alarms or schedules or forced smiles. She planned to savor it.
The phone rang again.
Kim hissed, yanked it closer, and squinted at the screen, ready to curse properly this time.
The name staring back at her erased every trace of sleep from her body.
Aiden.
Her heart lurched, sharp and unwelcome.
She stared at the screen like it might explode.
Five months.
Five months of silence. Five months of rebuilding herself inch by inch. Five months of teaching herself how to breathe without him.
And now this.
Her thumb hovered over the screen before she angrily silenced the call again and dropped the phone onto the bed like it had burned her.
"What the hell," she whispered.
Her chest felt tight. Not from longing or hope. Just irritation mixed with something raw she hated acknowledging.
Why now?
Her phone buzzed again, this time with a message. The sound startled her, and she snatched it up before she could stop herself.
Aiden: We need to talk.
Kim scoffed aloud.
She typed back without thinking.
Kim: I do not want to talk to you.
She stared at the screen, pulse racing, half expecting that to be the end of it.
The reply came almost immediately.
Aiden: It is important. Please.
Kim exhaled sharply and locked the phone, tossing it aside. She refused to respond.
Her mind betrayed her anyway.
It slipped backward, uninvited.
To the easy laughter that they once shared. To late nights and inside jokes. To the way she used to believe love was enough to fix anything.
She sat up slowly, pulling the blanket around herself.
She had loved Aiden. Fully. Foolishly. Without reservation.
She had ignored the red flags with a smile.
The borrowed money he never returned,the excuses,the way he always needed help, always needed saving. How she told herself love meant patience, meant understanding, meant giving more even when she was running low.
She laughed bitterly under her breath.
"God,Kim you were stupid," she said to the empty room.
The memory sharpened, dragging her into the moment she tried hardest to forget.
Three days after their one year anniversary.
She had woken up that morning smiling, sore in the good way, thinking about the night before. With the smile still plastered on her face ,she walked into the bathroom to wash her hair. She turned the shower on while under it. With her eyes closed she reached for her hair shampoo but it wasn't there,that's when she realized she had left her shampoo at Aiden's apartment. The expensive one she loved. She had texted him. Called him.
No reply.
She had decided to stop by quickly. Just to grab it and go. No drama.
The door had been unlocked.
She still remembered pushing it open, humming softly to herself.
And then stopping.
The room smelled wrong. Not like him. Not like them.
She had walked into the bedroom slowly.
The sight had stolen the air from her lungs.
Aiden was in bed.
With another woman.
The girl had screamed. Aiden had scrambled, grabbing the sheets.
Kim had stood there frozen, her world cracking open.
"What is this?" her voice had come out thin and fragile.
Aiden had rubbed his face, annoyed more than guilty.
"It is not what it looks like," he had said, and even then she remembered thinking how tired the lie sounded.
"Then explain it," she had whispered.
He had sighed, he actually sighed.
"I never wanted you," he said, voice flat. "You wanted more than I ever promised. You were forcing something that was not there."
Kim had shaken her head, tears blurring her vision. "You told me you loved me."
He shrugged. "I wanted a fling. You were too much. Too hopeful. Too loud. Too everything. I just went along with it."
The words had cut deeper than the betrayal.
"I took advantage of that,I mean why not. You were willing to give it all,I just took what I can" he continued, like he was stating facts. "But I am done now."
She remembered the way her legs had given out. How she had sat on the floor, sobbing, while he stepped over her to get dressed.
She had cried for weeks after that. Silent nights. Long showers. No one to talk to.
Her mother would not understand her pain,she never does. Her father? They had not spoken in years.
She had healed alone.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Kim blinked back to the present, wiping a tear from her cheek with the heel of her hand.
The audacity.
The sheer nerve of him calling now.
She swung her legs out of bed and stood, shaking her head.
"What guts," she muttered.
In the kitchen, she brewed coffee on autopilot, the familiar routine grounding her. The aroma filled the space, steadying her breath.
She grabbed her phone again and scrolled, then paused.
Mia.
She hit call.
Mia picked up on the second ring. "Hey. You sound awake early."
"You will not believe this," Kim said, voice tight.
"What happened?"
"Aiden called me."
There was a pause. "Aiden as in your Aiden?"
"Yes. That one."
"Oh my God," Mia said softly. "What does he want?"
"He says he wants to talk."
"And?"
"And I told him no."
"Good," Mia said immediately. "What is wrong with him?"
"I have no idea," Kim replied, sinking into a chair. "Five months of nothing and now suddenly it is important."
Mia sighed. "Do you think he wants to apologize?"
Kim snorted. "That man does not apologize. He explains."
Mia was quiet for a moment. "What are you going to do?"
Kim stared at the coffee swirling in her mug. "I do not know. Maybe I will wait. If he asks again, I will find out what he wants. Closure, maybe."
"Only if it is for you," Mia said gently.
"I know."
They drifted into lighter conversation. Work. Life. Small complaints.
Kim cleared her throat. "So. Grayson."
Mia groaned. "Here we go."
"You did not deny it," Kim said, grinning.
"There is nothing to deny," Mia replied. "We agreed to meet again. That is all."
"That is how it starts."
"Mia sighed. "Kim, I do not even know him."
"That is the fun part."
"Stop," Mia laughed. "It is friendly. Just that."
Kim raised her hands even though Mia could not see her. "Fine. I surrender. For now."
But her smile lingered.
After the call ended, Kim sat quietly for a while, coffee cooling beside her.
Life was messy. Love hurt. People disappointed.
But she was still here.
Still standing.
And maybe that counted for something.
Outside, the city moved on.
Inside, Kim exhaled.
Whatever Aiden wanted, she would face it on her terms.
And for the first time in a long while, that felt like power.