Chapter 2

I looked at her.

Her eyes were frayed with red. I could tell she was anxious.

I suddenly had an impression that she looked like a stranger.

"Alright. One week." With that, I grabbed my coat and walked out.

"Luke!" She called out after me, but I didn’t turn around.

It was raining outside. I got into the car, then I looked at my reflection using the rearview mirror. My eyes were red and swollen, but there was a sharp look of clarity in my eyes.

In that instant, I suddenly realized how meaningless it all was: the engagement, the relationship, all of it. The woman I had loved for the last seven years of my life had made a joke out of me.

It was all too meaningless.

Three days later, it was my birthday.

My family threw me a birthday party. They invited our business partners, as well as the mutual friends I shared with Clementine.

Over the years, Clementine and I made it a tradition to share the first dance.

"Luke, where’s Clementine?" Mom asked softly. Her eyes were glazed with worry.

"She’s on her way." I smiled and took a sip of my champagne.

As soon as I said so, Clementine rushed in. She was dressed elegantly and looked beautiful as ever, but there was an unmistakable look of weariness threaded underneath her brows.

She approached me hastily to take my hand. "Sorry, something came up at work."

"It's fine." I had to fight back the instinctive urge to pull away while I forced myself to smile.

Soon, our friends gathered around us and began to ask with suggestive looks.

"Hey, Luke, when are you two going to get married?"

I did not answer.

Clementine's smile was somewhat stiff as well. "Very soon. We’re just waiting for Luke to say yes."

When I spoke, my tone sounded far more indifferent than I expected. "We’ll see how things go."

When the party was about to begin, they began to cheer.

"Clementine, it's time for the first dance! Go on, get your fiance over here!"

She smiled obligingly, but her head was fixed to her phone the entire time.

I stood next to her and glanced at the screen. That was when I noticed the name on the display.

Stanley Brickley.

Messages were flooding in. Her finger hovered over the screen, but she did not open them.

Her mind wandered somewhere else from then on.

When the music for the first dance began to play, she hardly noticed when I offered my hand for a dance. When she looked at her screen again, her expression changed.

"Luke, something urgent came up. I have to go." Her voice was anxious. "Stanley has been a little erratic, and I’m getting worried about him being at home by himself. I have to check up on him.

"Please tell everyone I have to go. I’ll be back once I’m done."

My response was relatively calm. "Clementine. It’s my birthday today. The first dance is about to begin."

She fell silent for several seconds. "I’m sorry. I just don’t want something to happen to him. Wait for me. I'll be back before you know it."

With that, she turned and ran out.

I stood and watched as she anxiously paced out of the venue.

It seemed as if the air was sucked out of the room. I could feel countless pairs of eyes piercing through me from all directions like sharp needles.

Some of them were out of sympathy, others out of mockery. Some even took pleasure in my suffering.

I could feel Mom’s worried gaze and could still hear people murmuring between themselves.

I walked towards the dance floor.

The music was still playing, and everyone was waiting.

I took the microphone and announced with a smile, "Clementine had something urgent come up, so I’m afraid the opening dance will have to be canceled. Help yourselves, everyone."

This started off a round of commotion downstage. I put the microphone down before walking out of the hall.

The corridor was quiet. I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

Then, my phone vibrated. It was Clementine texting me.

"Luke, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

All I sent was a perfunctory reply, "Ok."

"Please don’t be upset. I already made arrangements for him to leave tomorrow. I promise it will be quick this time."

I suddenly chuckled when I looked at the text.

It had been three days since she told me she would settle matters in a week. And yet, one phone call was all it took for her to abandon me.

I was not going to believe her anymore. She had been telling me to wait for far too long.

When I got home after the party, it was almost midnight.

Mom was waiting for me in the living room. Judging by the look on her face, she was not impressed at all.

"What’s going on with Clementine? How could she leave you hanging with so many people around?"

I sat down and poured myself a glass of water. "Mom, I would like to look for another partner."