Vince nodded and took me to his car.
“Where to?”
“Anywhere.” I just stared out the window. like
a lifeless doll.
The car stopped by the river. I walked toward
the water, Vince following at a distance.
“Vince.”
“Yeah?”
I smiled and asked, “What do you think it
would feel like to jump from here?”
Vince’s face changed, grabbing my arm
tightly.
“Wendy, don’t be silly.”
I laughed harder. He thought I was suicidal.
“What are you afraid of? I won’t die.”
“It’s just Mark betraying me and using me.
I’ve decided. I’m divorcing him.”
Vince stared at me, his eyes flickering.
“You’re serious?”
I smiled wider, pulling him close. He was
strong but acted like a well–behaved dog,
letting me take control.
“Vince do you like me?”
The six–foot–tall man with the dragon tattoo, with his handsome, rough features, blushed. “How… how did you know?”
Vince got nervous, sweat beading on his
forehead.
“So… after the divorce, will you consider
me?”
“Of course.”
وو
I nodded, and Vince’s eyes sparkled. His
joyful expression mirrored mine the night
Mark proposed.
But I admit I was despicable.
My only thought was-
Mark used me to get to Holly?
I’ll use his best friend to get back at him.
After lunch, I took some more fever reducers
and felt slightly better.
I was about to take a cab to the lawyer’s
office when Holly and Mark blocked my way.
Holly excitedly rushed over, holding a teddy
<
bear taller than her.
“Wendy, I won this for you! It took so many
tries, I’m exhausted.”
“Do you like it?”
She’d played carnival games for me.
She knew I loved plush toys.
But after marriage, because Mark called them
childish, there were none in the house.
I forced a smile. “I like it, but I don’t need it.
You keep it.
“”
I’d be moving soon.
Holly looked disappointed. “Why not? Wendy,
I got this especially for you…
“”
Before she finished, Mark frowned, staring
coldly at me.
“It’s your best friend’s kindness. Holly wants
you to have it, so take it.”
He put the bear in the room.
He pretended to be relaxed.
“My wife is just shy. I’ll take it for her. What
“”
do you want to eat? I’ll get it for you.‘
Before Holly could answer, Mark opened the fridge and grabbed a Coke for her.
Holly smiled sweetly. “Wendy, your husband
is well–trained. Your fridge is full of my
favorite Coke.”
My heart ached. She didn’t know love didn’t
need training.
Neither Mark nor I liked Coke.
But the fridge was always full of Coke
because Holly loved it.
I mustered the courage to ask Holly if she
liked Mark too.
If so, I’d gladly step aside.
I turned to ask, but Holly curiously asked me,
“Hey Wendy, where’s your wedding photo?
Didn’t you say you’d hang it forever?”
I lied, “Oh, the photo is old. I got a nice wall
painting to hang instead.”
Holly happily offered to help me hang it.
<
As I got up to help her, Mark was already
there,
His eyes full of affection on her.
“Holly, slowly.”
“Hold it steady! If you drop me, I’ll have your
wife punish you.”
Holly focused on hanging the painting,
confidently leaning on Mark.
The sunlight created a dappled shadow on
them.
Suddenly, I felt relieved.
They were meant to be.
My phone rang, the lawyer urging me:
“Ms. Wendy, I’m at the cafe. When are you
coming?”
“Coming right away.”
I said I was going downstairs to buy
something and took a cab to the cafe.
But at a corner,
The driver, in a hurry, didn’t see an oncoming
truck and hit the roadside barrier.
I don’t know where my head hit, but a sharp
pain shot through me, and I heard people
shouting:
“Car accident! Call an ambulance!”
When I woke up in the hospital, my head was
bandaged.
Vince, with dark circles under his eyes, stood
by my bedside.
Seeing me awake, he excitedly approached
- me.
“Wendy, how are you feeling?”
He checked my brain function, following
doctor’s orders.
I looked around, my vision and hearing were
fine.
Vince breathed a sigh of relief, taking out his
phone.
“You’re okay! I was scared when I heard
about your accident. I’ll call your husband,
Mark, to let him know.”
I looked up at him, confused.
“Husband? Whose husband?”
Vince froze, looking up sharply.
“Your husband, Mark. Don’t you remember?”
I thought for a moment and shook my head. “I
only remember promising you by the river to
date you after I finish something important, to
be your girlfriend.”
I scratched my head. “I forgot what it was.
And I have no memory of the man you said
was my husband.”
Vince couldn’t believe it and asked the
doctor, who examined me and sighed.
“She seems to have amnesia, a consequence
of the accident.
