The Forgotten Love ✔

17 Dannie

Dannie POV.

David is still here on Sunday. When I take the finished painting to the breakfast shop, he follows behind me.

Later, David stands on a stool helping the female boss hang the painting on the wall.

I hear him complimenting my painting with the female boss and saying that even the steam on the coffee looks very realistic.

When I return home, I hear a knock on the door, but I pretend not to hear it.

In the evening, I go out to take out the trash and see a paper bag on the platform outside the yard with a big word "chestnut" written on it. There is a note underneath. Under the illumination of the street lamp, there are two sentences on the note.

One is an imperative—eat the chestnuts while they're hot.

The other is—The guy next door always peeks into your room from the window, remember to close the curtains when you sleep at night.

Next weekend, he continues to appear at the gate of the yard, leaning tiredly against the car door.

When he sees me, he puts on a smile and asks if I've had enough of the bus ride or if I want to try the off-road vehicle.

I say I don't need it, and he just smiles and says, "It's okay, you'll need it someday."

Actually, I'm not unaffected by what he's doing for me.

But right now, I have no strength or energy to deal with any intimate relationship. I'm tired, especially when facing David.

Every time I see his face, I can't help but wonder, if that child were still alive, would he be more like me, or more like David?

Then I fall deeper into self-blame.

The next day, as usual, Anthony calls me to ask how I am.

I sigh and answer, "Not good."

Anthony's voice becomes excited, "That jerk is bothering you again?" "No," I whisper into the phone, while looking down at the scar on my other arm.

Ten minutes ago, I had prepared lunch and went out to feed the cat.

But the cat was busy today, busy fighting.

A stray cat came to town, taller and fatter than him, and the two of them fought in my garden over territory.

I was afraid they would hurt each other, so I intervened with a broom, trying to separate them.

In the chaos, I didn't know which one, but one of them scratched my hand, leaving a long bloodstain on my arm.

It's raining again outside.

I hang up the phone, hold the umbrella, and go out to catch a taxi to the hospital for a rabies vaccination.

But I forgot it's Sunday today, traffic is busy, and it's raining.

I wait at the intersection for about ten minutes, then walk two more blocks to another intersection, still no empty taxis.

I sigh, remembering I could use Uber.

I hold the umbrella with one hand and press the phone with the other, Raindrops blow onto the screen, making my fingers slippery. Now matter how hard I try, I can't open the app.

At this moment, a black Mercedes Benz G65 turns the corner at the intersection and slowly stops in front of me.

David gets out of the driver's seat and walks up to me, "Where are you going?"