“I’m really curious about that contrast.”
I stood there clutching the warm thermos, in the warm hospital room, yet felt like I’d been plunged into ice water.
I never imagined my boyfriend of three years would disparage me like this behind my back.
Arlo’s voice came through the door, cold and devoid of any warmth:
“If you want to pursue her, go ahead. She’s desperate for love anyway, easy to get.”
“I just had to sweet talk her a bit back then, and I got her into bed.”
My breath caught, a knife twisting in my chest.
I heard the two of them chuckling softly in the room, and suddenly felt nauseous.
I covered my mouth and ran to the bathroom, retching a few times as tears streamed down my face.
So the man I’d loved deeply for three years only saw me as a replacement for the one that got away.
I thought he just didn’t love me as much, but I never imagined he despised me to this extent behind my back.
He not only didn’t love me, but didn’t even see me as a person.
To him, I seemed no different than trash on the street.
As the illusion shattered, I could hardly believe the man I wanted to spend my life with could be so despicable at his core.
Looking back, Arlo’s friends always felt free to joke about him and other women right in front of me. Who knows how they talked about me behind my back.
When his friends came over, they always treated me like a maid.
And his friends disrespecting me was essentially done with his permission and encouragement.
He only put on an act of being upright in front of me.
I wiped away my tears and threw the chicken noodle soup I’d spent two hours making into the trash.
The thought of breaking up had never been so clear as in this moment.
When I walked into the hospital room, I had mostly steadied my emotions.
Arlo frowned when he saw me return empty–handed, clearly displeased:
“Didn’t you say you were going home to make soup for me? Why did you come back empty–handed?”
Milo chimed in.
“Yeah Zinnia, Arlo was just telling me how thoughtful you are.”
Milo had a look of anticipation as he added meaningfully:
“Zinnia, you might not have many chances left to make soup for Arlo.”
I instinctively looked at Arlo, but saw he had no intention of stopping Milo.
I guess now that Sage was back, he wanted to dump me right away. Arlo wasn’t even bothering to pretend anymore, or maybe he wanted to “punish” me a bit for my “disobedience“.
I remained silent, my eyes fixed on Arlo.
This was the man I had loved deeply for three years.
