Withered 1 (9/365)

 It's been two weeks since the festival. After she rejected Richard's proposal, Sarah couldn't get herself to even look at his general direction. He calmed her down on their way home from the beach, saying that he was okay with her saying no, but that only made her more sorry than ever. She knew him well enough to know that he really meant it and it took her everything to not burst into tears again in the car.

 They lingered for a while in front of her house. Neither of them had anything to say at the moment. Eventually he gave her a hug and said, "You're still my girlfriend, Sarah. I'll give you some time alone, but feel free to call me if you need anything, okay?"

 I just rejected your proposal. Am I still your girlfriend? she thought to herself.

 "I'm sorry," was the only thing she had the courage to muster. Richard pecked her cheek and left. And they hadn't really talk to each other the coming days. It was impossible to avoid Richard at work, after all, she worked for his company, and he was her boss. But they didn't talk. Or rather, Sarah was avoiding him, because all the time she caught him stealing glances, and she said nothing in return.

 Nobody thought it was weird. After dating for two years and futilely try to keep the relationship a secret, everybody in the office knew that they were dating and everybody understood that they didn't want it to show at work. But her best friend had this superpower called intuition and knew something was amiss between them.