Chapter 2

The next afternoon, Claire came home. She pulled an elegantly wrapped watch box from her bag and placed it in front of me.

"Hank's situation was unusual last night. Be understanding. I specifically had my assistant pick this out for you."

I took the box and opened it.

The moment I saw the watch inside, I let out a quiet laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Claire asked, frowning.

I pushed the box back toward her. "Claire, for my birthday last month, you had your assistant buy me this exact same watch. The month before that, I was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer. You had your assistant buy me this exact same watch too."

Claire froze. "What... How could it be the same?"

"Because you don't actually care what you give me."

I looked up at her.

Claire's face went pale as she hurried to explain, "I was too busy. I must have mixed them up."

"You were so busy that you still had time to help Hank deal with the damage to his car and calm him down. Don't you think that's funny? I looked at her calmly. "Claire, keep the watch. I don't deserve to wear it."

Claire stood there frozen.

I said nothing else. I lay back down and closed my eyes.

…

The next morning, Claire did something she rarely did. She made a hot latte and brought it over to me.

"You just got over your fever yesterday, so I made this for you." Her voice was gentle. "I used whole milk. Drink more of it. It will warm your stomach."

I stared at the rich, steaming latte without touching it.

"Why are you not drinking it?" Claire frowned. "I made it myself."

"Claire, we've been together for four years. I have severe lactose intolerance. I've never been able to drink milk. You know that."

Claire froze. Her face slowly turned pale. "I... I forgot. I thought you liked lattes..."

"Did you forget, or did you get me mixed up with someone else?" I smiled faintly. "The one who likes whole-milk lattes is Hank, right?"

Claire hurriedly looked away. "I've had too much going on at work lately. My head is a mess."

I stared at the steaming cup of milk on the table, feeling strangely lost.

There had been a time when Claire and I really had loved each other.

When we first got together, she would wait for me outside my dorm no matter how bad the weather was. Whenever I worked late and my stomach started hurting, she would run all over the city to find me something warm to eat.

Whenever I was upset, she would put her arms around me and tell me that she was there for me.

Now, I could not even tell whether Claire had ever truly loved me.

"Forget it. Let us not talk about this." She tried to break the awkward silence. "You're going somewhere today, right? What time is your flight?"

"Two this afternoon. My grandmother is in the hospital. She wants to see you."

A flicker of guilt crossed Claire's eyes, and she nodded. "Okay, I'll go with you this time. Consider it my way of making it up to you."

At 1:30 pm, I arrived at the airport with my luggage. Claire was nowhere to be seen.

Twenty minutes before boarding, Claire finally called. "I might not be able to go."

Her voice sounded rushed.

I tightened my grip on the phone, my heart sinking little by little. "Why?"

Claire hurriedly explained, "Hank was presenting a proposal at the weekly meeting. He got a few lines of the formatting wrong, and the vice president yelled at him in front of everyone until he cried. He's hiding in the bathroom right now. He says he doesn't want to stay in this department anymore.

"I have to go back to the company and help sort out his work. I also need to have a word with that vice president."

"Claire, my grandmother is lying in a hospital bed with oxygen, waiting for us." I forced myself to keep my voice from shaking. "You aren't going because Hank got yelled at over a presentation?"

Claire's voice grew impatient. "She'll be fine. I can go see her in a couple of days. What difference does it make? Hank just started working. He can't handle this kind of pressure! What if something this small pushes him into depression and makes him quit?

"And what if the traffic signals in your hometown are terrible? I'd just be miserable if I went there! Can you stop making a scene right now?"

"Making a scene?"

I gave a quiet laugh.

"Claire, your family has always thought my family was poor and that we were trying to take advantage of you. You've never once been willing to come home with me. Now my grandmother is in the hospital and wants to see you, and you still think going there would be a burden."

"Well, it would be. There are so many people trying to use connections these days. I'm doing this for your own good. I don't want you to leave an even worse impression on my family."

I hung up before she could finish.

Over the airport speakers, the ground crew began calling for the last few passengers to board.

My phone vibrated with a message from Claire: [Don't stay mad. Once I take care of things with Hank, I'll fly over myself in a couple of days and apologize to your grandmother.]

I stared at the message. For the first time, I felt like the biggest fool in the world.