Chapter 3The Butterfly Effect of My Divorce

The boy was taken away by Secretary Chen, but Arthur remained standing in front of the booth.

"Chloe," the man spoke. "How have you been these past few years?"

Halfway through my coffee, I set down the cup: "Not bad, thanks for asking."

After a moment of silence, the shadow above my head disappeared as Arthur followed the owner up to the second floor.

The cello music faded into a slow, calm piano piece, mirroring my current state of mind.

The studio owner was an internationally renowned tattoo artist; his custom designs were highly sought after, and he only took two clients a day.

It just so happened to be this coincidental today.

My eyes slid over the designs on the wall, suddenly stopping on the centerpiece.

It depicted a red lip tattoo on the inner thigh of a man.

The man sat on the floor with one leg bent, wearing black briefs under a bathrobe, with a light pink lip print ambiguously placed.

The lip shape was beautiful, the lines clean, creating a dark, surging tension against the bronze skin.

This was the mark a woman left between a man's legs.

"Miss Chloe," the owner's voice behind me pulled me back. "This way, please."

I turned and saw Arthur coming down from the spiral staircase, his shirt collar buttoned up tight.

I asked: "Done so quickly?"

"He lost his nerve and decided not to touch it up," the owner, who was very familiar with Arthur, said. "Go on up to the second floor."

Arthur stopped at the foot of the stairs, unmoving, one hand tucked into his suit pocket, expressionless.

He looked down at me from his elevated position, his eyes dark and heavy.

We stared at each other in silence, but what came to my mind was our very last intimate encounter.

After kissing and getting into bed, I saw the red lip tattoo on his inner thigh.