3
Finally, at the courthouse, we were met by a
young woman. She glanced at Jesse, then
smiled at me. “You two need a thirty–day
cooling–off period.”
Her smile was kind, but her eyes sent another
message: Don’t regret this.
I looked at Jesse. Tall, handsome, impeccably
く
dressed–the picture of a wealthy
professional.
The clerk was mistaken. Professionals don’t
always act professionally.
Jesse was more anxious than I was. He
frowned. “Do we have to?”
She looked at her computer. “I’m sorry, sir,
it’s the regulation.”
I shrugged, indicating I understood.
Jesse sighed, took back our documents, and
said coldly, “I have a meeting. I’ll go.”
He drove off. I took the bus to work.
Fortunately, the courthouse was close to the
bus stop. It was rush hour. I saw the crowds.
and hesitated.
I took a step back, almost stepping on a cat’s
tail.
I apologized and saw the owner looking at
- me.
He was in his twenties, pale and thin, as if
<
recovering from an illness.
He smiled. “I’ve never seen anyone apologize
to a cat before.”
I sat beside him, keeping some distance.
“I’ve never seen someone walking a cat
before,” I replied.
His cat was a black cat with white paws, like
it was wearing tiny white gloves. It was very
close to him, lying still at his feet.
“Your cat is very attached to you,” I
commented.
He smiled. “Animals are sensitive. He
probably knows I’m dying.”
I gasped. “But you’re so young!”
He looked up at the sky, his eyes flickering.
“Youth is meaningless. You need to be alive
to matter.”
Words of comfort died in my throat, met by
the sadness in his eyes.
Buses came and went, the crowd thinned.
く
Only the two of us remained. He continued to
gaze at the sky, sunlight dancing on his
eyelashes.
“I’m also sick,” I said calmly. “I have amnesia.
I remember everyone but one person.”
After a long pause, he said softly, “That
person must have been important to you.”
Important. Just forgetting him left a gaping
hole in my heart. Despite the bright sun, I felt
increasingly cold, shrinking inward.
I stubbornly lied, “Not important. I hate him.”
The cat rubbed against my ankle. I reached
out and stroked its head.
He looked at me, his eyes shining, with two
dimples on either side of his lips.
He extended his hand. “I’m Ethan. This is
Lucky.”
