Chapter 29
Selena responded quickly: [Everything’s fine.)
I responded with a smiling emoji.
Just a few seconds later, Selena sent me a few photos. She then went on and on, telling me about the things she experienced while she was away. It felt like that incident hadn’t affected us at all, and we had naturally slipped back into the easy, open conversation we used to have.
Maybe it was because I started talking with Selena again, but my mood lifted almost instantly. I got so absorbed in my work that I forgot to eat lunch. When my colleagues returned from their lunch break, one of them told me a beautiful woman was waiting for me downstairs.
The first person I thought of was Jessica. I went downstairs, and sure enough, it was her. She seemed to be doing alright. When she saw me, she didn’t rush over like she usually would. She just stood there, quietly smiling.
I took a deep breath and spoke first, “Want to grab a coffee at the café across t
the street?”
Jessica nodded.
When the server brought the coffee over, Jessica stirred her drink and asked, “Are you okay, Seb? I’ve been worried for the past few days. I feel like I hurt you with my impulsive actions.”
I picked up my cup and took a small sip. “Lena and I are okay. Even if you didn’t say anything, I believe she would have told me about it one day.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, Jessica’s expression dimmed. It took her a while before she awkwardly
smiled.
“Really?” She took a sip of her coffee, but her trembling hand almost resulted in it spilling. She set her cup down and looked up at me. “Why can you be like that with her, but not with me?”
The wind, cold and biting, slipped through the window and swept between us.
I suddenly thought back to an incident that happened during the five years I spent with Jessica.
After we argued again over something trivial, she had stormed out, slamming the door behind her. The pieces of the broken plate on the floor of the apartment glistened in the afternoon sun, casting harsh reflections that seemed to strike at my heart.
I bent down and pulled out a book I had once given her, the one she used to prop up the wonky table leg–The Myth of Sisyphus.
On the gilded first page, there was a message. It was something I had written when I gave it to her back in high school. In the five years we lived together, I had repeated if to her countless times.
“Don’t walk behind me, because I might not lead. Don’t walk ahead of me, because I might not follow. Walk beside me, and be my friend.”
There was a time when I hoped the person standing next to me would be Jessica. However, it wasn’t what she wanted. She was the one who didn’t want to forget Cameron. It was she who didn’t choose me, and it was she who didn’t want to walk forward with ine
“Both you and Lena came into my life because of lies, but ultimately, you two are different. She made a firm choice to stand beside me.”
I looked at her, and after a long pause, spoke softly, barely above a whisper, “Jessica, It ends here. Let’s not drag it out. We’re both doing fine, and there’s no turning back.”
With that, I stood to leave, but lessica stopped me.
actually, the main reason I came today is to tell you that Cameron was arrested. It was for drugs, both possession and trafficking. He’s facing at least ten years.”
1 froze.
Jessica explained that Cameron had developed a drug addiction overseas. In order to fund his habit, he started trafficking drugs when he returned to the country. He was arrested in the middle of a transaction just a few days
After that day, Jessica didn’t come to see me again.
Meanwhile, Selena cut her business trip short. When she called me, she had already landed and was out of the airport. As soon as I answered, her voice came through, urgent and hurried.
“Seb, there are a lot of things about me that I wanted to wait until after the trip to tell you. But now, I don’t have the time. I need to tell you everything today. Stay at home. I’m coming over right now.”
1 was confused, but could sense the urgency in her voice.
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