Love Short Story – Finding Out The Truth (4)
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“Why bring a complete stranger into your house?” Susan asked as Chris placed a plate of nicely organised eggs, bacon and toast.
Chris froze for a moment, shrugged his shoulders and sneered “Because we are both abandoned by someone we loved.”
“How did you know about Tom…….”
“Come on, you were drunk. I should’ve taken you to the church and confess.”
She managed to laugh, even with a serious headache.
“See, have a good laugh, let bygones be bygones.” He grinned.
Then, they had a quiet and peaceful breakfast. But they both were going through a lot in their heads.
For Susan, apart from her headache, she was devastated by the breakup. Although she managed to laugh at Chris’s joke, deep in her heart, she was falling into pieces as memories were floating up in her mind. She started to reminisce the evening that Tom had brought her to the side of the river and watched the sunset on a bench. She was in his right arm, her head on his shoulder. As the sun turned red from yellow, he kissed her head and told her “I love you”. She was surprised and contended the same time. She looked into his eyes and beamed “I love you too.” He lifted her jaw with his fingers and smooched her lips.
However, on that night, she received the heart-ripping call from Tom.
“Hello, Susan. We need to talk.” His tone was serious.
“ What’s wrong, sweetie?” She was a bit intimidated.
“Listen, I am sorry that I lied when I told you that I had broken up with Mary……”
“What!? You lied to me? I am the third person in a relationship for this whole time?” She exclaimed, “How could you do this to me!”
“I am sorry, Susan.”
“But you said you love me……..”
“I am really sorry. But I can’t do this anymore. I am making things right with Mary.”
The line went dead.
“Hello? Hello?” She shouted “You ba##ard, you said you love me.” Then, she smashed her phone onto the floor.
Susan shook her head, trying to have a harmonious breakfast.
Chris, sitting on the other side of the table, was also going through a huge chaos in his head. He was asking himself the question since he brought her into his room : Why did he decide to bring Susan into his house and treated her so nicely? he tried to avoid it until Susan asked him the same question.
“We were both abandoned by someone we love.” He remembered his answer. Maybe that was the reason why he had helped her in the first place. Maybe it was because he understood the feel of being heart broken. So he decided to help her, hence helping himself, to rise from sorrow and grief. Or maybe he wanted empathy from her. Thus, he could feel supported and loved again. Or maybe…….
Chris shook his head to clear his mind. He took a bite of the toast on his plate.
“Thank you. This meal is very delicious.” Susan praised.
“You’re welcome.” He smirked. “People don’t call me ‘The Best Host In The World’ for nothing.”
She giggled. Her headache was starting to fade.
“People? I don’t think so.” She joked “Person, maybe.”
He laughed. “Come on, it’s just you and me in this house, don’t lie.”
“Fine, you are the best host in the world. Happy?”
“As long as the guest is satisfied, the host is happy.”
As Chris was about to get up and wash the dishes, she asked: “I know I am out of place to ask you this, but I really wanted to know who could abandon the nicest person in the world?”
Chris sat there like a statue.
“I am sorry that I asked.” She stood up. “Thank you for taking care of me. I owe you a lot.”
She was about to leave when Chris suddenly said: “Her name was Mary, and she’s Tom’s girlfriend.”
She sat down. Although she was irritated by the mention of Mary’s name, something in her heart urged her to sit down for his story.
Then Chris told her everything. He started from the day he helped Tom get Mary. He was behind Tom the whole time to make sure nothing goes wrong. But he was depressed when he saw the girl he loved falling for his best friend with his support. Although he was assuring himself that everything was ok, he couldn’t bear watching Mary kissing Tom at the end of the day.
His tried to get his mind off this girl by jogging. Ironically, jogging made him think about her more, as he fantasized watching the sunset with Mary every time. One day, he saw Tom kissing another girl as he was jogging. He was angry at him, but deep down his heart, he was slightly happy, because that might be the chance he could get the girl of his dreams. So he went to Tom’s house that night to make things right. However, Mary freaked out and ran away when she heard the catastrophic news.
“When you found her, she was back together with that ba##ard, right?” Susan interrupted.
“Yes.” Chris sighed. “Susan, I am sorry that I ruined your relationship with Tom…….”
Susan stood up, walked near him and looked into his eyes. Then she caressed his lips with hers.
“You poor man. You shouldn’t apologize for Tom’s faults.”
Chris held her head and kissed her lips, the kiss was lengthy.
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