The Proposal That Was Just a Bet

1: 1

On graduation day, the boyfriend I'd loved for four years proposed to me.

He knelt on one knee with a bouquet of roses in his hands. "Erica Gilbert, marry me. I want to take you out of your school uniform and put you in a wedding dress."

I was so moved that tears streamed down my face. I had just taken the ring from his hand when I heard a low snicker.

"Job, you said if Erica accepted the proposal, you'd owe me a day as my boyfriend. Does that still count?"

Job Stephens got to his feet and tossed the roses down at his feet.

"A bet's a bet. Today I belong to you."

This wasn't the first time Job had put himself up as a stake.

On my birthday he didn't show. He called and said, "Sylvia and I played rock-paper-scissors and I lost, so I'm on lockdown in the dorm tonight, praying for good luck for her."

On our anniversary, he showed up for one minute.

His excuse was that he'd lost rock-paper-scissors to Sylvia Simmons and had to keep her company all night.

A classmate teased me.

"Erica, you really are our class's Zen master. Job's about to be Sylvia's boyfriend and you can still hold your temper."

Job glanced at me, then reached out and pulled Sylvia into his arms.

"I'm just keeping my word. What's Erica got to be upset about?"

I stood at the edge of the crowd, listening to the classmates egg them on. "Kiss, kiss," they chanted.

And I decided that from now on, I wouldn't hold it in anymore.

......................

The roses on the ground burned my eyes red.

I had imagined Job proposing to me countless times. Now it was nothing but a joke.

I turned and dropped the ring into the trash can.

On my phone, the company I'd had my heart set on had sent an offer of employment.

Below it there was a note:

"Ms. Gilbert, your grades are outstanding and you've won major awards. Joining our company also comes with the chance to study abroad. We look forward to having you."

I looked up just in time to see Job tenderly brush a loose strand of hair from Sylvia's forehead.

I didn't hesitate anymore. I sent back, "I accept the offer," then quietly went back to the dorm.

I sorted out my onboarding paperwork and came out of the dorm, and there in front of me were Job and Sylvia.

The moment he saw me, Job instinctively took a quick step to put distance between himself and Sylvia.

Only a glance.

Job frowned and walked up to me.

"Erica, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You know I lost to Sylvia today and I'm her boyfriend, and you still wore the couple's outfit."

Sylvia gripped Job's wrist.

"Silly, Erica's staking her claim. More than that, she's trying to get your attention."

I raised my eyes and looked over.

Sylvia was wearing the same white T-shirt as me.

It was the matching couple outfit that Job and I had taken three days to pick out.

The day the clothes arrived, he'd said we'd wear them and take photos together, that we'd announce our love to the whole world.

Now three people were wearing it.

I turned and went back to the dorm, and changed into a pretty floral dress.

When I came out, a flash of admiration crossed Job's eyes.

Right in front of the two of them, I threw the white T-shirt into the trash.

Sylvia's eyes went red at once.

"Erica's blaming me for wearing the same clothes as her. I'll go change out of it right now..."

Job's face darkened.

"Erica, you're really being childish today."

His voice dropped a few degrees.

"I'm Sylvia's boyfriend right now. You deliberately wore the couple's outfit to embarrass her, and now you're throwing it in the trash to hurt her feelings."

"You're this petty. Doing grad school together, living together someday, it's going to be exhausting."

Watching him wearily pinch the bridge of his nose, I suddenly wanted to laugh.

Hanging on Sylvia's bag was the couple's charm I'd picked out myself.

In her hand was the same jasmine milk tea Job always got.

Her social feed was dozens of photos of the two of them wrapped in each other's arms.

And now she was wearing the couple's outfit I'd chosen, standing in front of me, the real girlfriend, accusing me of being childish?

My heart clenched with pain.

The old Job.

If I was gone for even an hour, he'd call me dozens of times in a panic.

Now, two whole hours had passed with not one message, not one word of concern, as if he'd already forgotten I existed.

And all of this began to change with one game of truth or dare.

Sylvia said she'd had a crush on Job for a long time.

From that day on, Job stopped putting any real effort into me.

The birthday cake he ordered for me was mango, the flavor that sends me into anaphylactic shock.

At meals, he'd carefully pick out the cilantro Sylvia didn't eat, but he forgot to pick the fatty bits of meat out of my bowl.

Job often said,

"Erica's just fussy. She can't eat this, can't eat that. Not like Sylvia, who's not picky about anything."

The truth was, even back then, I should have understood that whatever Job and I had had already gone sour.

Seeing that I wasn't speaking, Job let the impatience seep into his voice.

"Erica, you're pulling a long face. It's just because I gave the couple's outfit you picked to Sylvia, isn't it?"

He dug some bills out of his pocket and shoved them into my hand.

"Here's five hundred bucks. Enough for you to buy a new set."

Seeing that my face still hadn't changed, Job got angrier.

He tossed me another two hundred.

"That's your rent. I rented myself out to Sylvia as her boyfriend for a day. Is it enough?"

Beside him, Sylvia choked out, "I should just give the clothes back to Erica. Don't let my selfishness come between the two of you."

"No need!" Job's voice was ice cold. "She's just been spoiled rotten."

Then he took Sylvia by the hand and strode away.

It was a long time before I came out of the humiliation Job had left me in.

I had just wiped away my tears when my roommate came rushing over.

"Erica, something's wrong. Something's happened to Job."