Chapter 3The Moment We Broke Up

“Patrick Reed! Where have you been again!” Patrick was driving, and he’d put the call on speaker. Eleanor’s petulant voice came through. He guiltily fumbled with the volume, quickly lowering it. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye, and seeing that I was still closing mine, he let out a sigh of relief.

“I came to pick Claire up from the hospital.”

“Guess where I am!” Eleanor laughed, the whooshing sound of wind through the phone growing harsher. Patrick’s face instantly changed. He slammed on the brakes, making me nearly fall off the seat. He didn’t spare me a glance, loudly demanding, “Eleanor! Are you racing again?!”

“Have you forgotten you just sprained your ankle? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

“Where are you now?!”

“You know where I am.” Eleanor airily dropped the phrase, then hung up with a laugh.

Patrick was about to turn the car around, but then his eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. He suddenly remembered I was still sitting in the back.

“Darling…” Patrick looked troubled. I knew what he wanted to say. It was, of course, that Eleanor’s racing was more dangerous. Compared to me, who had already been discharged, she needed Patrick more.

Before he could even string together his words, I, understanding his unspoken request, tapped the car door. “Just let me out here.”

“I’ll just take a taxi home.”

Patrick stared at me, trying to find a trace of jealousy in my eyes, but his fingers honestly clicked open the door lock. I smiled. The soft ding-dong of the lock opening sounded like a farewell bell tolling in my heart.

I dragged my casted right leg out of the car. I watched the car, not hesitating for a second, turn around and speed off in the direction of the next city. He didn’t even notice that where he dropped me off was a small road where taxis rarely passed.

I stood by the roadside, leaning on my crutches, waiting for a car. Mary’s older sister, my university senior and the orchestra conductor, called. “The orchestra is looking for a violinist to study in Sydney. I recommended you.” Over the past two years, whenever the orchestra chose someone to study abroad, she always thought of me first. But I couldn’t let go of Patrick, always making excuses about being used to the easy life at home.

Before I could speak, she cut in, “Don’t tell me you can’t bear to leave your boyfriend! This chance to go to Sydney is one of a kind!”

“It’s not like you’re going to outer space and will never see him again. If a year of long-distance can’t be sustained, then you don’t need a man like that!—I’ll introduce you to someone reliable!”

I chuckled softly. Patrick and I were high school classmates; we started dating in our freshman year. Three years of high school, four years of university, and three years after graduation. Ten years. I had almost never been away from him.

On the day we graduated from university, Patrick accompanied me to sweep my parents’ grave and light incense. I murmured a prayer, “I want to be with Patrick forever. I want a home.” At that time, Patrick tightly clasped my hand, promising earnestly:

“Darling, I am your family.”

Until Patrick’s mother remarried, and his stepsister Eleanor appeared in our lives. I loved him for ten years. Yet at my most vulnerable, he abandoned me at the hospital, abandoned me on an deserted street. My efforts and expectations truly weren’t worth it.

I picked up where she left off. “When do I leave?”

Mary’s older sister was overjoyed. “My dear, you’ve finally come to your senses! Grab this opportunity, and your worth will skyrocket!”

“Send me a video of you playing right now; I’ll send it to the Sydney Orchestra!”

I looked up at the darkening sky. There was still no sign of a taxi on the road. I laughed dryly. “Mary’s older sister, could you please come pick me up first? My leg isn’t very mobile.”