2
The air was thick with awkward silence.
Ben finally handed me a gift bag. “Jo, I’m sorry.
Tiffany and I picked this out for you.”
“One of the guys in her lab was bothering her,
so she asked me to play boyfriend for a bit.
<
You posting the marriage license makes her
look bad. What are people gonna think?
“Tiffany was freaked out by your comment
today, but I know it’s because you love me too
much. I forgive you, ok? But maybe try being
nice?”
I had to laugh, but it was like a bitter,
humorless laugh.
Forgive me? You’d think I was the one who had
cheated.
I looked at the present. A pair of earrings, the
same brand as the necklace Tiffany was
wearing in her video today.
That necklace was a limited edition, worth at
least 10 million. It takes a lot of effort to get a hold of it. The shop would typically give a
matching pair of earrings as a complimentary
gift.
<
I pushed the bag away, turning away from him,
rejecting it with a gesture.
He grabbed my arm and yanked me back,
“What the hell, Jo? Tiffany was nothing but nice
to you, apologized for everything, and now
you’re giving her attitude?
“It’s just an anniversary. So what if I forgot?
Don’t be so dramatic.”
My silence seemed to piss him off even more.
He grabbed a bottle of perfume off the shelf
and smashed it on the ground.
A shard of glass sliced across my right hand,
running parallel to another scar.
Ben seemed to have forgotten about the time I
used my body to shield him from a glass bottle.
Ben also seemed to forget that this perfume,
this men’s scent, was the first thing I crafted
myself, after spending two months learning
perfumery the summer after I graduated.
<
It was named “By Your Side.” I wanted him to
smell it and think of me.
A wave of resentment crashed over me, as I
looked at the blood from the cut on the back of
my hand as it dripped onto the floor. Tears
welled up in my eyes, streaming down.
Ben’s face showed a hint of guilt. He grabbed a
first–aid kit, cleaned my wound, and bandaged
it up.
“Jo, I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“Okay.”
It hurt like hell. I didn’t want to be dramatic.
I went to open the passenger door, and Ben
panicked. “Don’t sit there!”
Too late. As I sat and was about to shut the
door, the inside of the door handle had a sharp
<
blade, slicing my finger. The bandage I’d just
put on came loose, and fresh blood gushed out.
Ben’s eyes darted to the blood, he threw his
hands up in frustration, his tone annoyed, “I told
you not to sit there. Tiffany made it her special
spot!
“It’s your own damn fault you got hurt. You
never listen. I yelled so loud, you were as deaf
as a door.”
