Mark’s voice was suddenly right above me.
“Annie, why did you come?”
“I married you, what more do you want?”
“Because of you, we’re short a parachute.
What am I supposed to do?”
His voice was raspy. It sounded a lot like last
time.
Last time, I’d seen Sarah with Mark and finally
L
understood. I demanded an explanation.
But he didn’t say anything, he just strapped a
vest on me and shoved me out of the plane.
I looked at the two of them, and all I felt was
disgust.
I’d loved him, cared for him, all those years,
and he was this pathetic.
I grabbed the last parachute and handed it
over to Mark.
“Here. Take it.
“Mark, go make your way to your girlfriend.”
He looked at me, confused.
く
“Annie, what are you doing? What are you up
to?”
He put Sarah behind him, like I was trying to
kill her with a parachute.
I shook my head at his anger.
“The plane is going down. I’m giving you the
last vest. So you can make up for not saving
your soulmate.”
“Is me being understanding a ‘scheme‘ to
you?”
Mark stared at me.
Sarah started to cry.
“Mark, I know it’s wrong for me to come
without a ticket, but your wife’s letting us go.
We should go.”
“Annie is your wife and a lucky person. We
don’t want to leave each other, so this is the
best way.”
Mark stopped looking at me.
He strapped the vest on Sarah, with shaky
hands.
“You’re right, Annie is lucky, she’ll be fine.”
Then he checked Sarah’s equipment and gave
her a hug.
In front of me, they were gone.
The plane was rocking back and forth as it
went down.
I grabbed a seat and pulled myself towards
the cockpit.
The cockpit was huge. No wonder Sarah liked
it in here.
I’d asked Mark to see it, but he always said
- no.
“You’re not crew, why should you see the
cockpit?”
“It’s full of equipment! If you mess something
up, do you think you can pay for it?”
I stopped asking.
Now I was in the cockpit, where Mark and
L
I sat down in the pilot’s seat and laughed.
There was a sticker in front of me with
Sarah’s name on it.
I’d heard of guys putting “Girlfriend Zone”
stickers on car seats, but this was something
else.
Mark was showing off his love for Sarah right
in the cockpit.
I reached out to tear it off, but under the
sticker was something else:
“If we can’t be together in life, let us be
together in death.”
My face felt wet. It was tears.
<
They had made a promise to die together.
I closed my eyes and thought a lot.
Mark and I weren’t in love, but we got along.
Until Sarah came back. She cried into Mark’s
arms at the airport.
She didn’t see me holding Mark’s hand. She
wrapped her arms around Mark and cried.
That was the first time I’d seen Sarah. Mark
looked at me cautiously and let go of my
hand.
I was angry, and I pulled Sarah away from
Mark. He told me not to bother his coworker.
Sarah was unemployed, but to Mark, she was
<
a valued colleague.
He helped her with everything and would have
me make her ginger tea.
I couldn’t take it, and I argued with Mark all
the time.
