Chapter 5

I did not want to continue staying at the hospital. I was preparing to leave, but when I got to the hospital doors, I witnessed a dramatic scene. Alan was standing below the steps with his luggage, looking like he was about to leave.

Rose was extremely pale, looking so weak that it seemed like she had just had an operation, but she refused to let go of Alan's luggage handle. "Where are you going? I won't let you leave!"

They looked at each other with the luggage between them, and they cried at the same time. One would think that they were suffering lovers who were being forced apart. I was not interested in watching further, and wanted to leave when I heard Alan choke back a sob.

"I'm too ashamed to stay by your side now that you found out that I walked into your room on purpose that night. I don't expect you to forgive me, Rose. All I ask is that you take good care of Walden and Jay in the future."

Alan grabbed his luggage from Rose, but she threw herself in his arms.

"I don't care about any of that." Her voice was hoarse, and her arms around him tightened. "I was drugged that night, and if it hadn't been you who came into my room that night, it would've been another man. Do you have any idea how happy I was when I found out that it was you who spent the night with me?"

What a great show of confessing their deep affection for each other.

I could not help laughing sarcastically. Both of them froze and turned to look at me.

Alan was the first to snap out of it. He pushed Rose away immediately and came running to me. "Walden, it's not what you think…" He grabbed my hand hopefully.

All I felt was disgust, and I flung his hand off me. Alan lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground. Rose was alarmed and quickly tried to help him up, shielding him behind her. "Are you hurt?"

Alan shook his head with tears brimming in his eyes, but Rose was still worried, and she checked him all over for any wounds. "Go back to Jay. I'll handle this."

He walked away, but kept looking back as he did. Rose finally looked at me when Alan was gone. "There's a cafe nearby. Let's talk over there."

"What do you have to say to me that you can't say here?"

Rose looked around. Many doctors and patients were looking in our direction, and she lowered her voice to plead with me, "Jay is still staying at the hospital, and Alan has to stay here to take care of him. I don't want him to be affected by any scandals."

I had already calmed down, but her answer made me angry once more.

Rose had always been considerate and took great care of the people she loved. When I was at a gathering and would be home late, she would drive to where I was to wait and pick me up. When we crossed the road, she made sure to stand protectively in front of me in the direction where the cars were coming at us.

Whenever we met with a difficult client during drinking sessions, Rose would always help me handle the client without a beat, but now, her consideration and care were used on another man.

I was silent for a few seconds before deciding to follow her to the cafe. "Two iced long blacks with an extra shot, no sugar."

This was the drink we always ordered. After ordering, Rose suddenly remembered that she had just undergone surgery, and she glanced at her pale fingers without saying a thing.

The coffee arrived very soon, and Rose looked at me, breaking the silence first. "Did you hear everything we said?"

I did not answer, and she continued, "Even before that night, Alan and I…" She paused, as if trying to find the right words. "It's only normal that feelings develop after working together often."

It was only then that I found out that Alan and Rose already had feelings for each other at work before the night they slept together.

The worst thing about this was that I was the one who let go of my ego to beg Rose to give Alan a job when he had difficulty getting a job. It had pained me to see Alan getting rejected again and again, which prompted me to approach her.

Little did I know that I was responsible for getting them together. I was the laughingstock and the most pathetic matchmaker in this love triangle.

I remained silent after Rose was done talking. She tried to strike up a conversation. "Why aren't you drinking the coffee? Isn't iced coffee your favorite drink?"

My eyes lowered to stare at the water drops condensing on the glass. One of the water drops suddenly fell, separating from another water drop next to it. I glanced at the iced coffee in front of her, which she had not drunk either.

"You didn't take your coffee either."

There was another long silence between us. What an ironic and sad situation. We used to talk about everything under the sun, but even we ended up with nothing to talk about one day.

Rose could no longer take it. She looked at the time with frustration in her eyes, and for the first time, she begged me. "Walden, I'm begging you to give Alan and me one month. After a month, I'll divorce him and marry you."

With that, she got up to leave. Before she left the cafe, she went to the counter to pick up a tiramisu to go.

As I watched her vanish around the corner, I smiled bitterly. Did it matter that she remembered what I liked? She remembered Alan's favorite dessert too. Moreover, an iced coffee was not a suitable drink for Rose after her surgery, and she was no longer suitable for me either.