Chapter 4
I pulled open the curtains, opened the window, only to find Jonathan standing there, like a ghost, staring at my window through the rose garden.
Our eyes met, as if centuries had passed between us.
I quietly closed the curtains, pretending I hadn't seen a thing.
On the seventh day since the system started erasing me, Olivia made me a piece of bacon. She sprinkled salt on it twice, but I couldn't taste any salt at all.
I knew my sense of taste was starting to fade too.
I wanted to have one last bowl of pasta before I lost my sense of taste completely.
That was the taste I missed most from those nights we crashed under the bridge.
I went to that noodle shop, only to find Jonathan had the whole place to himself.
It was just a tiny joint. I'd never seen anyone book out a place like this before. The owners looked scared out of their wits.
One of Jonathan's friends saw me and dragged me inside, their hands all over me.
"Yo, Jonathan, you said you were done with this plaything. Didn't you say we could play with her?" one of them shouted.
I didn't fight back or try to get away. I just watched Jonathan in silence.
Well, this was the price of loving him, wasn't it?
Jonathan's face twisted in fury as he saw what was happening.
He smashed the glass in his hand and punched both of those guys in the face.
"Get the hell out! All of you, get out!" he shouted.
Soon, it was just the two of us left in the noodle shop.
He stormed over and pinned me against the wall, his eyes bloodshot with rage. "Two choices. Let me give you those two choices one more time."
My choices must've hurt his pride. After all, what woman couldn't fall for Jonathan? And yet, there were women who'd rather take money than be with him.
I gave him a cold smile. "Is this your new way of messing with me?
"Jonathan, I'm tired. I don't want to play your games anymore."
The fire in his eyes died out, taking his anger with it.
He let go of me.
For the first time ever, he actually looked lost.
That day, I didn't get to taste those pasta. Maybe it was fate messing with me. Word was, he kept going back every day, but me? I never went back.
A few days later, Jonathan stumbled into my place, smelling like a distillery.
I watched as his lips moved urgently, but I couldn't hear a thing.
This was when my hearing started to fade.
"Margaret, you really are cold, huh?" Jonathan choked out, half-laughing, half-crying.
After that day, he seemed like a different person.
He wasn't so high and mighty anymore, and he stopped being so volatile. He started showing up every day, either to say "Good morning" or "Good night," as if nothing had ever happened.
I reported him for trespassing.
Even as the police dragged him off, he still told me to eat well. And sure enough, the very next day, he showed up again.
I moved twice, but no matter what, he always found me.
Toward the end, I just didn't have the energy to keep running anymore.
He seemed to have learned his lesson. No more tantrums, just gifts. He kept finding new ways to please me, offering me everything I'd ever wanted, in every possible form.
He kept pulling out all the stops to win me over, trying something new every day, until that day.
Olivia told me he'd broken his bones trying to pick a flower for me. After finally getting it, he was hit by a car while trying to protect it.
Even with a head injury, he brought the flower to me, placing it where I could see it every day.
Jonathan ended up in the hospital for a week.
Olivia went to see him three times.
The last time Olivia went to see him, she told me, "He's gotten so skinny.
"He won't eat or drink.
"He's just waiting for you."
I was brushing Rocky's fur as snowflakes danced outside. It was shedding season again for him.
Olivia finally snapped.
"Miss Collins, you really are heartless," Olivia said, her voice shaking.
Heartless?
I gently rubbed my stomach, remembering how, for love, I'd lost my life, couldn't even protect my child.
That day, Olivia quit her job and left.
I heard the door close behind her.
The house, already too quiet, felt even more silent.
I took off my hearing aid, and the world went completely silent.
I sat by the big window, watching the sun sink low, my thoughts slow and heavy.
I had no idea when Jonathan came in.
He just sat there quietly across from me, looking so skinny and fragile.
For a moment, I was stunned. 'Is this really the man I've loved for five years?' I thought.
Out of nowhere, he smiled.