Chapter 2

Xander left without looking back, not sparing me a single glance. After he was gone, he sent me a message: "I'm going to be with Grace. Pack your things and leave. Remember, don't leave anything of yours behind. Grace would get upset. "I think we can still keep in touch. If you ever need company, you can call me." Finally, the tears I'd held back spilled over. Ten years—just when I'd fallen in love with him, he didn't want me anymore. "Xander, tell me. What were we to each other all these ten years?" I thought he wouldn't reply, but then my phone chimed. "Dalia, it was a physical attraction between us. I think you should understand that. And with things like this, we don't owe each other any responsibility. "We can still be friends. That's it." I stared at the screen, crying and laughing at the same time. A girl's best ten years, I'd given them all to him, and he acted like it was only natural. He never even thought about taking responsibility for me. That night, I stared at the empty room and didn’t close my eyes the whole night. Memories flooded in, bringing me back to ten years ago. I was twenty then, working at a café. I accidentally dropped and broke a coffee cup, and the manager told me to pay for it. "You spilled a customer’s coffee last time, and now you’ve broken a cup. Do you even want this job?" he snapped. I hung my head, letting him scold me without daring to speak. "I’m warning you, this is the second time. One more mistake and you’re out! "Pay for the cup right now, or you won’t get your wages today!" I twisted the hem of my clothes nervously, telling him I couldn’t afford it. "I haven’t saved up enough for this month’s living expenses yet, and there’s also my tuition fees. I..." "If you break something, you pay for it. Either pay up now or leave!" Tears stung my eyes. I was just about to speak when I heard a tap on the counter. "As a grown man, you should be a little kinder to a young girl." I turned my head and saw a hand with well-defined knuckles, then Xander’s handsome face and his striking eyes. When the manager recognized him, his tone instantly softened. "Xander, you’re here. What would you like to drink today?" Xander didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at me. "This has nothing to do with you. Go back to work." The manager didn’t object. I immediately busied myself with pretend work, but kept listening to their conversation. "Be nicer to your staff. If I find out otherwise, I’ll double the rent for this place." Xander had helped me. The manager nodded repeatedly, and the way he looked at me grew much more polite. When Xander left, I couldn’t help staring straight at him. "What are you looking at?" he asked. "You’re so handsome." The words slipped out before I could stop them, my face flushing instantly. His eyes crinkled, and suddenly he leaned in, his nose brushing mine. "Is that so? Am I really that handsome?" I nodded again. He was good-looking, kind, and he’d helped me—there was an instinctive attraction to this man that hit me all at once. I never expected Xander to return to the café the next day. He sat by the window, sunlight spilling over him, making his chestnut hair glow like it was gilded. I brought over his coffee, but my nerves got the better of me, and some spilled onto his hand. "Oh! I’m so sorry!" I panicked, grabbing a tissue to wipe his hand, but he caught mine mid-movement. “Hey, you seem awfully nervous to see me," he said. I shook my head quickly. "No, I’m not..." But he just smiled, his eyes crinkling, and led me out of the café by the hand. "You like good-looking guys, huh? Be my girl. You can look all you want." I can’t remember my reaction. It was like I couldn’t refuse—letting him lift me up and carry me into a nearby hotel. On the soft bed, he untied my hair tie, letting my hair fall over my shoulders. Xander brushed my hair aside, bringing it to his nose to smell. Sensing me trembling, he pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Relax, I'll make you feel like you're in paradise." After that night, I was completely swept away. Every day I worked at the café, Xander would show up. Eventually, even the tiny café bathroom became a place where we’d steal moments to be intimate. And by the hotel’s floor-to-ceiling windows, he’d press me against the glass, gripping my waist from behind. "Arch your back a little more, lower your body..." Over the course of ten years, I went from a nervous little girl who’d get flustered at the sight of him to a woman who could meet all his needs. I got caught up in this relationship driven by desire, thinking it was love. I gave Xander my first kiss, my first time, and my first love. He took me to the heights of pleasure again and again, making me fall deeply in love with him amid that intense bliss. All these years, I’d been waiting for him to propose. I even daydreamed about having a boy and a girl after marriage— the boy looking like him, the girl like me. Ten years is such a long time. So long that I never once thought we’d part. Not until now, when I’m thirty, that he announced it was over. At the thought, I suddenly let out a laugh. It’s absurd— I spent ten years with only him, treating those ten years as if they’d be a lifetime.