“Bullshit!”
Manuel had the audacity to roll his eyes at her, “you can think whatever you want Daphne”
Daphne scoffed, ” this isn’t me thinking anything! You are the one who didn’t know what you are talking about” with fire in her vein she ransacked through their closet and brought out the big pink book Manuel made for her during their one year anniversary.
“Yoy can’t say you Don’t love me anymore and wanted to breakup with me back then when you wrote all thses to me in our one year” she flipped the book and opened the back revealing pictures of their happy and smiling moments where his love letters were also kept, ” Manuel you can’t say you don’t love me when you wrote all these because I will never believe you” she pushed the book towards him.
“Iam not sure I ever really loved you”
Daphne tried to gasp for air but there was none, the book fell off he hand.
“Iam going to get going now”
Her heart lurched her body forward towards him, desperation where screaming in her blood to lock the door, toss the key somewhere else, cry, plead and do whatever it takes to make Manuel stay.
“No!” Her arms shoot out to him and just as her finger graze his arm he shook her off, rejection expanded across her whole chest coupled with misery and shame, Manuel walked out of their bedroom and down the hallway, walking past the pictures of their lives together hung across the walls.
He ignored every single one of them.
“Manuel wait!” Daphne ran after him without a single thought in her head, only love in her heart.
“My ride is already outside, I can’t wait anymore”
The double meaning in his final word pierced right through her heart and her feet quickened towards him.
“Where are you staying tonight?”
“With a friend”.
“Which friend?”
“It doesn’t matter, does it?”
Daphne was able to use that moment he halted to answer her, to quickly stand right in his front, ” it does matter to me, it’s not Rhemy , is it?” Daphne wasn’t sure why she asked him and by the Express in his eyes she could see that he was not expecting her to ask him that either. Rhemy was his colleague where he worked in a law firm, Manuel had always been a fine ass lawayer, handsome and well built and rhemy was a close friend and co-worker, most times whenever Daphne stop by at his workplace either to take him out for lunch or bring his already prepared lunch she would meet them discussing and laughing, on few occasions rhemy had accompanied them to the restaurant, and Daphne knew quite well that Manuel does not have any interest in her even though her woman instinct was saying otherwise. Sometimes Daphne had noticed rhemy flirting with Manuel in her presence and then in the next second try to be friends with her.
One thing Daphne was grateful for was that Manuel never had any interest in his colleague and she was happy, nevertheless Daphne wanted to be sure the friend Manuel was talking about wasn’t rhemy, ” can you text me when you get to Spain?” Desperation etched in her voice as she begged for this one last favor, just a simple click of his finger across his phone, that is all she asked for.
Manuel gaze burned into the ground, he stood there with one hand on the door lock and the other holding his suitcase, Daphne stood there anticipating with bleeding heart, dried tears on her cheek and fresh ones sitting in her eyes, the anticipation surrounding them was forceful, Daphne needed him to hold her up like he always promise he would.
Manuel rolled his lip together, lifted up his face and skip right over her, Daphne heart flipped and crashed to the bottom of her chest shattering into a billion shreds as he turned the handle of the door and yanked it open.
“No”
He shut the door with that as his last word kept ringing in her head, ” NO”
The moment the door closed, Daphne collapsed onto the couch next to her, crumbling into herself as her heartache ripped down the length of her body, her loud cries echoed across the room penetrating every open space of the apartment along with her frantic breathing as the atmosphere became a mixture of grieving moans. Alone with her sorrow, she crawled like the pathetic animals she had turned to back to the couch and against the front window of their apartment, tearing the curtain of the window open she wanted to see the love of her life for the last time, to see if he was outside feeling remorse about leaving her, having a rethink, running back into the apartment laughing telling her it was all a joke, she wanted to see him as he drive away from the life they had built together like it was nothing.
As her watery gaze found Manuel, he was throwing his suitcase into the trunk of a red sport car, every sob wracking her body ceased as she saw the car.
She knew the car!
She sees it everyday at Manuel’s office.
As the piece of familiarity fell together in Daphne’s mind she popped her head outside of the driver side.
Rhemy!
Manuel opened the passenger side door and rhemy flashed him a warm smile that curdled the acid in her stomach, they both kissed and disappeared into the car together as Daphne wat her them drive away into the sunset as the new romantic character of what was going to be a fairy tale and happily ever after, in that same minute Daphne realized she had become the vallian, she suddenly felt sick, she was the outcast of her own story.