Secondhand Love I'm Done

The day Janet Dale got promoted to management, James Mason asked me to sign over the Cayenne so his company could use it as a fleet car.

A fleet car that somehow became Janet's personal ride.

In exchange, James bought me a bicycle.

I picked myself up off the ground, found the chain snapped, and had no choice but to push the bike home.

The rain soaked through me until I couldn't tell what was rain on my face and what wasn't.

Janet posted to her feed, showing off:

【Thank you, Mr. Mason, for repainting the fleet car pink just for me.】

The photo was that pink Cayenne.

The comments were all the same, every one of them: together at last.

Even with the wedding so close, James still hid my existence from everyone.

He always said his career was on the rise and it wasn't the right time to go public with a relationship.

Now I understood. Keeping it quiet was so he could carry on with Janet.

When I got home and saw the whole place done up in cheap Barbie pink, my vision went black and my legs nearly gave out.

Janet came toward me, all smiles.

"Rosa, I spent two days fixing up the wedding suite as a surprise. Surprised?"

The down payment on this place came from five years of work, scraped together a little at a time.

From picking the location to the design to the renovation, I'd handled every bit of it myself.

For this wedding I'd called in family connections and flown in an overseas team to decorate it.

In two days, all of it was ruined.

James looked at me, displeased. "Go wash up. You're covered in mud, it's filthy. Don't track it onto the carpet Janet just laid down."

I stepped onto the paper carpet, and before I'd even put my weight down, it split open.

"Where's everything I picked out? The cashmere rug, the crystal chandelier, the linen bedding, where did it all go?"

James's face changed, and he snapped at me:

"Those luxury goods all went to the company to be sold."

"Rosamond, didn't you promise me you wouldn't buy luxury goods anymore! And now look at what you're doing!"

"If Janet hadn't caught it, I still wouldn't know you were behind my back, throwing money away!"

"It's my own money I'm spending!"

Seeing this, Janet stepped up and took my hand.

"Rosa, don't be upset. Mr. Mason meant well. He knows you love pink, so he had me decorate it this way."

"Who said I love pink? Haven't you always been the one who loves pink?"

Janet put on a shy, embarrassed look. "Then Mr. Mason just has too much on his mind and got it mixed up. Let me apologize to you on his behalf."

"What gives you the right to apologize for him?"

The words had barely left my mouth when James kicked over the glass jar in the corner and shattered it.

Paper cranes scattered across the floor.

They were a gift I'd given him on our first anniversary as a couple.

A thousand paper cranes, each one holding 365 days of longing.

He once told me it was the best gift he'd ever received.

And now he was grinding my girlish heart under his shoe.

The old sweetness and this present cold tore at my heart, back and forth.

"Janet is your best friend, and she's my right hand, the one who's done the most for this company. She has every right to do anything on my behalf!"

The one who's done the most?

If my collection hadn't been the company's first batch of stock, it would have gone under long ago.

Watching the home I'd designed so carefully torn apart, I felt the dizziness sweep over me again.

When I opened my eyes again, James was sitting at the edge of the bed, watching me with worry.

Seeing me come around, he got up and brought over a bowl of noodles.

"Rosa, you're always skipping meals to lose weight. Your blood sugar's dropped again, hasn't it."

I'd fainted because they'd hit me on the bike and hurt my head.

The explanation never made it past my lips.

"Eat up," he said. "It'll go cold."

I took the noodles, and a small warmth rose inside me.

"How long has it been since you last made me noodles?"