I'm Letting Go of Us

This was my 99th confession. I was hoping Shawn Smith would marry me, but the moment I finished speaking, silence followed. The whole hall of guests said nothing.

An awkward pause later, Shawn came up to me, looking impassive. "Do you have any idea how awkward you're making this for me? I was supposed to be hanging out with my friends, but now everyone's laughing at us."

Shawn's ex-girlfriend, Helga Steele, approached him and held his hand. "Queenie just wanted to surprise you. Just let it go."

Someone laughed derisively. "This party was meant to welcome Helga, and yet Queenie still tried to steal the spotlight. She had it coming."

Everyone giggled, and some whispered among themselves. I was still holding the bouquet, embarrassed but refusing to budge. My eyes were glued to Shawn, and I was hoping he would say something.

That only stoked his disdain for me more. "You're embarrassing all of us. Leave."

I blurted, "You said you'd marry me if I confessed to you ninety-nine times."

I wasn't going to show up tonight, but he begged me to. He promised he'd marry me if I made a perfect confession. Thanks to that, I had to work through the night for days on end to finish the job my supervisor gave me. I had to condition the flowers to make sure they'd bloom for tonight.

Shawn shrugged. "I was drunk. I can't believe you'd believe that. How stupid are you?"

My heart sank. There was unease coursing through me, but I held it down. "But you were bothered when someone confessed to me."

That didn't faze Shawn at all. He mocked, "You know how much I care about appearances. You're my bitch. I couldn't just let someone take my bitch away. What would people think? They would laugh at me."

"What about this bracelet? I went to every doctor I could find, but nothing worked. You said you begged the abbey for this. You said this is why I was healed and woke up."

Shawn glanced at my wrist and smirked. "I grabbed it off the street. Your fever would've broken that day with or without the bracelet. And I didn't say I begged any abbey for it; you did. I thought, why not? It was a fun story."

My fists clenched tightly as my vision began to blur. "Shawn, you've only had one girlfriend besides me, and you were only dating her for a month. You broke up with her when I found out. We've dated for years. Don't you love me?"

"No. I wasn't going to date you anyway. It was just something I said."

Shawn raised his hand. He was still holding Helga's. "But now I see that I love Helga. She's the one. I will hold her hand until death do us part."

Helga froze, but then she hung her head low and smiled sheepishly. Shawn didn't even spare me a single glance. Instead, he turned around and left with his true love.

Then, he ordered the guards to get me. Two of them came and grabbed my arms, escorting me to the entrance. I tried to get away from their grasp, but they tightened their grip on me.

"Mr. Smith's orders. Please work with us here, Ms. Carson."

And then the crowd went wild. I whipped my head around and saw Helga and Shawn holding each other in a tight embrace.

The guards turned my head back. "That's not something you get to see!"

This reminded me of the day he confessed to me. He ordered the other guy to be taken away in the same way these guards were doing to me. He would not let anyone even get a look at me.

We also embraced then, and I thought I was the happiest girl in the world.

Well, I thought wrong, obviously.