Today was yet another awful and dreary anniversary. Many would have thought that since it was such a special day, lovers would be having a hell of a good time celebrating. Well, apparently, love wasn’t all roses and champagne, and it certainly wasn’t chocolates and milkshakes either. Because if it were, I wouldn’t be sitting here alone, waiting for him in our nearly empty thirty-foot-square apartment for freaking five hours since sundown, while staring at the “Happy 5th Anniversary!” cake I made.

“He’s late.”

I’ve never heard my voice sound that cold my whole life.

Calvin made me a promise, and we were supposed to go on a trip to celebrate this year, but with our job as monster hunters, our schedules hardly matched. Over the years, we’ve been seeing each other less, and this year was even more scarce.

I planned this surprise for us to catch up, but now it turned out to be a waste of effort.

Hunters get called out anytime. Our duty to cull the monsters and save lives always came first. Still, he should have told me if something came up and he couldn’t make it!

I angrily called his number on my Codewatch, bent on giving him a piece of my mind. However, the second the call connected, the emergency siren wailed.

Then, before I could react, a humongous creature bulldozed through my window, tackling me like a mad bull. I was instantly sent flying and smashed against the wall.

My head felt wonky, and I was throwing up blood. I also broke a few bones and hardly got any strength to lift my head. I had been hit by a lot of monsters in the past, but this was by far the worst.

At times like this, I wished Calvin was here to back me up like I always did with him. I had hoped he was only running late and was now rushing to my rescue. But that sliver of hope was shattered by the most disgusting giggle I’ve ever heard.

I thought my call got cut off when I was attacked, but it was ongoing the whole time.

I didn't have to guess who it was. I knew from her fake high-pitched voice, that it was Cathy, Calvin's ex.

“Sounds like you’re having fun, Ava. Don't worry about Calvin, I’ll keep him busy for you.”

Then, from the background, I could hear Calvin grunting. “Ugh! Who the hell is calling me this late?”

Anger and helplessness choked me from the inside. I'm dying out here and he was messing around with his ex?

Regrets filled my mind as the thoughts of my inevitable end loomed over me. I wanted to scream and cry. I still wanted to live, even just for a day.

“Help…”

As I whispered that word, the monster started screaming in pain. I could hear some electricity zapping. Did someone come to save me?

Suddenly, there was silence, then the floor rumbled as it dropped dead.

I wasn't sure what was happening, but it made me feel so relieved that my consciousness began to fade.

Through it all, I felt a gentle hand lifting me, warmly carrying me in his arms.

“Hang in there. I'm gonna get you out of here,” he said.

I don't remember much of what happened after that. When I came to, I was lying on a hospital bed. If it wasn't for the soreness, I would've thought I just had a terrible nightmare, but I did not, and a week had already passed since the incident.

I spent three more days in the hospital for clearance, and during my entire stay, Calvin did not visit even once.

I lost count of how many times I cursed him while recuperating. We had five years together and this was how it all amounted to? He didn't even make an effort to call and check on me.

I left the hospital on discharge, feeling frustrated on top of being heartbroken. A junior hunter from my unit came to get me, and it was the first time I felt so lonely. I guess deep inside I still wanted to believe in Calvin despite his betrayal, but the sucker didn't even try to pick me up.

God, I felt so pathetic I could cry a river.

My junior was getting worried, and I just smiled and pretended everything was fine and dandy. I grabbed the new equipment he handed me and geared up while he drove us to the station. It was then that a final blow woke me up from the illusion of love.

Notifications from Flipper bombed my Codewatch. All of them were from Cathy, tagging Calvin on the posts. There were photos of them drinking and celebrating her birthday. In some angles, they were suspiciously close, with one photo captioned, “Thanks for the birthday gift, babe. I had a lot of fun.”

I felt so sick I wanted to throw up. He ditched me, his current girlfriend, to celebrate his ex’s birthday on our anniversary! He looked so pleased with himself too!

I fumed so badly that I switched places with my junior and drove the car at maximum speed.

I wasn't sure of what I was doing nor where I’d be taking this car. At that moment, I just wanted to go far away and remove Calvin from my life. If it wasn't for my junior screaming at me, I wouldn't realize that we had already stopped.

When I looked up I saw the 42nd division’s emblem. We arrived safely at the station. Seeing that was like a beacon of light. I knew how to get my life straight.

I got out of the car, ignoring the complaints about my reckless driving, and stormed inside the building.

A lot of people checked on me and congratulated me on my recovery, but I couldn't pay attention to their concerns. I was laser-focused on one thing, as I headed toward my unit and barged into the captain's office.

“Paul! The offer from the higher up. Is that still open?” I didn't beat around the bush.

I know what Calvin wanted most. Getting that first would be a great shot at his ego.

He didn't expect I’d simply take his crap lying down, did he?

“That’s a surprisingly unique way to greet your captain, Hunter.” Paul dropped what he was doing and faced me with his inquisitive gaze. “You’ve been holding out on it for a year. What made you change your mind?”

Right now, a lot. I didn’t know what to tell him, but Paul knew me too well.

“You’re not acting on impulse because of Calvin again, are you?”

Right off the bat, I knew he had seen Cathy’s post. My relationship with Calvin had always been an open secret. And if the captain knew then, everyone did too. Now it made sense why I passed by so many hunters earlier.

I sighed and showed him my brightest smile.

“Not at all, Captain. I just felt silly drawing it out for this long.”

I didn’t lie about feeling silly, but I wasn't being truthful either.

When the offer came last year, Calvin and I had also broken up.

To me, it was like a breath of fresh air. I was ready to pack up and leave, but Calvin later apologized. He seemed so sincere that I foolishly forgave him and took him back.

As one of the most promising female hunters, I had the brightest future ahead of me, and I gave up that one opportunity all hunters would’ve fought for, a position among the elite corps, for him.

Calvin had a lot of pride in himself. He quickly rose to fame the first year he joined our division. At that time, I was also killing it in the field. So great at what I’m doing I earned the name Flaming Rose. But I bloomed too much in battle that I overshadowed the others.

Calvin would’ve lost it if he knew the elite corps reached out to me and not him. He already didn’t take it well that I got my second star first when we started about the same time. That was also what caused our fight and led to our breakup.

Paul gauged me for a while before giving me a skeptical nod.

“Alright, I’ll give them a call. In the meantime, I’m putting you on leave. Get it together.”

He handed me the paperwork that I excitedly held.

Then, from the back of my mind, a small voice had me thinking, and I couldn’t resist asking, “You think there might be a chance they're gonna retract it after my slip-up?”

“Are you kidding me? I was told to leave it open until you come demanding it,” Paul exclaimed, then his expression softened.

“Think better for yourself this time, Rose.”

I came to the station with convoluted thoughts and left with a lot more. But the good thing about it was, I’m definitely getting that promotion.

I went back to my apartment to pick up my stuff. Aside from it getting destroyed and inhabitable, I want to cut my ties with that bloody place. I'm moving out.

As I pushed the door open, my heart almost stopped from shock. Calvin was there, looking around at the rubble and everything.

Of course, running into him was inevitable, but I didn't expect to see him this soon.

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.