After Breaking Up, She Regrets It

On Valentine's Day, after much persuasion, I finally convinced Valery Fisher to go to Los Angeles with me.

The train was about to depart, but I still had not seen her.

It was not until I called her that she told me her younger brother had an acute case of gastritis, so she left me stranded alone.

The next morning, her childhood friend Brock Abbott posted a short video, documenting the entire process of her cooking for him:

[Your presence is the warmest confession.]

Everyone laughed at me for being cheated on.

But for once, I did not lash out and instead left a comment under the video.

[Do you only have one fork between the two of you? How broke are you?]

***

Valery had always known I had no sense of direction. I would get lost whenever I went out, even with GPS.

When she left me alone on the train without saying a word, I did not blame her.

After all, she had told me her brother had acute gastritis, and I felt so guilty that I could not help her when she needed it most.

When I tried calling her again, all I got was an automated message, "The person you are calling is currently on the phone."

But then, in Los Angeles, I saw the video Brock had posted. Valery was standing there, wearing an apron and cooking for him.

And there was that line: [Your presence is the warmest confession.]

I could not keep my temper in check, so we ended up having a huge argument.

Valery, as usual, snapped back at me impatiently.

"If that's what you think, there's nothing I can do about it!"

Then she blocked me on everything.

I wandered around Los Angeles, lost and alone, for a full week.

On the last evening, Valery finally remembered me and unblocked me.

She called and said.

"I'll meet you at the train station tomorrow."

I understood what she meant. She wanted to sweep everything under the rug.

In this relationship, I was always the passive one.

Whenever we fought, she could throw a fit and act like nothing had happened once she cooled off.

But I never knew how to deal with her.

After countless fights, she always had me in the palm of her hand.

What she did not expect, though, was that after spending seven days all alone in Los Angeles, I had finally had enough.

If it had been before, I would have taken all the blame without hesitation and then gone on to comfort her.

But now, I was not going to be foolish anymore.

I replied casually, "Do what you want."

Then I hung up and laid back on my bed. I knew her well, and she would not say anything else.

But a moment later, I got a notification on my phone.

[Good night.]

I did not respond.