Heart of the Huntress: The Blooming Second Chance

He looked so disgusted at seeing the aftermath of the monster attack.

“If you can't handle even a weak monster then quit hunting. Look at this mess. What are you even doing?” He blabbed his mouth without a care.

I looked at the floor and apart from the debris, I could see bits of mashed cake with mold growing on it and they stink.

“Take a guess.” I flatly answered him, meeting his gaze with a bitter-cold smile.

Calvin looked away and shifted uncomfortably. He knew he was at fault but his ego was so high he'd rather take a jab on me than admit it.

Seriously, how did I miss such a huge red flag?

He was so pumped up to save his ass that he couldn’t even ask me a polite ‘how are you?’

I heard from our colleagues that our entire division was also called out to assist dispatch during the monster wave. I guess he was too busy partying with his ex to give a sliver of care for my life. I took that day off for our damn anniversary. Maybe things would've turned out differently if I took a page from his book.

Calvin cleared his throat. The dead silence must be choking him.

“Got the day off?” he asked, changing the subject.

“By the way, Commander Harris is back. He invited us to his 20th year in service party.” He rattled off, careful not to mention Cathy or my brush with death. Every word that came out of his mouth was like salt rubbing into my wound.

“Enough.” I cut him off mid-sentence. “We’re done, Calvin.”

His face darkened.

“What do you mean?”

I walked to the bedroom and didn't answer. I wanted to quickly get this over with, but he didn't seem to. I thought he would jump over the moon now that he’d be free from me. Instead, he yanked my arm, forcing me to face him.

I was ready to swing a punch right to his face, but he quickly mellowed down. A sigh escaped his mouth, and suddenly, he looked so pitiful.

“Let’s take a walk and talk this through.” He sounded pretty convincing, but I knew it was only an act.

“No.” I yanked my arm free and stood my ground.

He always did this. Whenever we argued he’d tell me to go for a walk and then pacify me into guilt. In the past, I’d gladly take that offer because I thought I was in the wrong, and I didn't want to lose him. Well, not anymore.

Calvin’s temper blew up.

“Are you serious?” He scoffed as if I was the one throwing a tantrum.

“Fine. If that's what you want, we're over. Don’t come back crawling this time.” He sneered, flapping his jacket, and stormed out.

I realized he had never been worthy of my devotion as I watched him leave. How did I fall for such a guy?

When the door slammed behind him, something rolled off. I picked it up, and I couldn’t stop my bitter laugh from coming out.

It was a promise ring that he gave to Cathy as a gift. I’ve seen pictures of them before and she seemed to treasure it, but she returned the ring after their breakup. I thought he had thrown it away because he wouldn’t stop bitching about not standing to see it, but he kept it all along.

I had this coming but I ignored it. I should’ve known five years ago when he first called out her name in his sleep.

I threw the ring as hard as I could, then went on with my new life.

I never heard from Calvin himself after that day. I learned he had taken two weeks off work and went off the grid. Yet, somehow, I kept getting updates of his whereabouts via Cathy’s posts on her timeline. He looked like he was having the best time of his life lounging on a beach with her on some island.

Honestly, I couldn’t care less about what he was doing, but in merely five days after we had broken up, he took his ex for a vacation. The one we planned for years but never made it out of the drawing board.

What a jerk!

Moving on was really tough when you were working in the same field with your ex and that chick he couldn’t forget about.