It hit me hard. Naomi was the heroine of his life. Despite being a photographer, Mason had never taken a single photo of me in our five years together. I had tried to persuade him to, but he always brushed me off, saying, "I work more than ten hours a day and it’s really tiring. Why make me work after work too?"
I had looked through the photos Mason had taken of Naomi and it was clear he’d gone to great lengths to capture her at her best. He could snap hundreds of shots from the same angle just to get the perfect one. It wasn’t that he was unwilling—it was that I wasn’t the subject he cared about.
The realization hit me hard, like a thorn piercing my heart. I wanted answers but couldn’t bring myself to ask. Last night, Mason had said he would take me to the beach to unwind. It was the first time in five years he had actually initiated a date. As I packed, I noticed he had quietly slipped in a new camera. I was thrilled, thinking I was finally stepping into the role of his dream girl.
But then he brought Naomi along and flirted with her right in front of me. The relationship I once cherished now felt like it was turning my stomach.
“Naomi, that photo is great, but try to smile more naturally!” Mason’s soft voice pulled me from my thoughts. I saw Naomi leaning against a coconut tree, striking pose after pose as Mason guided her patiently. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. If they were so into each other, I’d step away.
Naomi finally noticed me and waved enthusiastically. “Jessica, the coastline here is amazing. You should get a photo too!”
I stopped dead in my tracks. It was clear that the man I’d loved for five years only had eyes for his dream girl. It was impossible not to feel utterly rejected.
In a daze, I thought, why not just take the first and last photo Mason ever took of me as a breakup gift? Naomi’s sly smile was still fresh in my mind as I followed her suggestion and stepped onto a mossy reef. The next moment, I felt my knees slam into the stones with a painful crack.