Kissing my earlobe, caressing my bosom, so tender and passionate.
I once thought these gestures meant love. Now I saw them for what they were – just his way of satisfying his desires.
After we finished, he returned to his cold, distant self. He straightened his clothes and pulled out a credit card from his pocket.
“Your spending money for the month.
“By the way, I’m getting engaged.”
“Okay,” I replied while putting on my underwear.
“Why aren’t you angry?”
James frowned, cupping my face, studying me intently as if searching for the reaction he expected.
“Why should I be angry? I’m just a secretary, just Mr. Carter’s friend with benefits. What right do I have to be angry?”
I finished dressing and walked out of the conference room.
Tears blurred my vision. It was time to let go of this one-sided relationship.
The next day, I took a half-day off. As expected, he called me at noon.
“Sarah, where are you?” James’s tone was harsh. “Why aren’t you at work?”
Ever since we’d started this twisted relationship, I’d lost all personal time. Being by his side constantly, during and after work hours, had become normal.
Taking sudden time off was something I’d never done before.
“I caught a cold, needed some rest,” I answered listlessly.
After a moment’s silence, his tone softened. “Tell me first next time. Do you need to see a doctor?”
“No need, just some rest will do.”
“Alright, I’ll come over later. I want cream of mushroom soup – make sure to prepare it.”
After hanging up, I looked through the photo album in my hands – pictures of James and me, though mostly just of him.
Photography had been my hobby since childhood, but he always disliked having his picture taken. Whenever I begged him to take photos together, he’d look annoyed.
Still, I foolishly wanted to preserve our memories together, so I secretly took many photos of him.
When he accidentally found this album at my place before, he’d scoffed, calling it childish, though he reluctantly agreed to take a couple of photos with me.
I lit a fire in the brazier and placed the entire album inside.
As the flames consumed our faces in the photos, my love burned to ashes with them.
Just then, the doorbell rang. I opened it to find James standing there with a bag of medicine.
His eyes moved past me to the brazier behind, his handsome brows immediately furrowing.
“What are you doing?”
