A Game of Hearts

The day Jessica Smith and I went to pick out our wedding rings, her long-lost first love unexpectedly returned to town.

When we went to pick him up from the airport, she introduced me to him, saying, "This is Sebastian Grant, a friend."

Jessica made it clear that I wasn't her fiancé. She even went a step further and called off our engagement party scheduled for the next day.

Just when she thought I would fight and insist on marrying her, I suddenly said in relief, "Your best friend previously wanted to hook up with me, you know? And honestly, I was kind of interested."

Cameron came back on the day Jessica and I went to pick out our wedding rings.

She had chosen the date herself.

Last week, Jessica drank herself into a stupor on Cameron's birthday. She stumbled home in the middle of the night, reeking of alcohol. As soon as she saw me, she threw her arms around my neck, calling me "Cam".

She repeatedly demanded to know where I had been all these years and why I had stayed out of touch. It wasn't the first time this had happened in the past five years, either. Each time, Jessica would act like nothing happened afterward, and I'd let it go, never bringing it up.

But this time, I recorded it.

After all, some things needed to be confronted.

The next day, I showed Jessica the video. She barely glanced at the screen and didn't even reach out to take the phone. Instead, she just kept sipping her milk.

With a dismissive shrug, she said, "I thought you'd be used to it by now."

I turned off my phone and smiled bitterly. "I've been with you for five years, and you still can't forget him. It's obvious that without him, you're miserable."

I took a deep breath. "I've thought it through, and I'm done. Go to him."

Without waiting for her response, I walked out the door and went to work.

We didn't speak for three days after that. I didn't bother going home, crashing at my buddy's place instead.

Unexpectedly, Jessica didn't leave. She came looking for me, saying she wanted to get married, that she had already picked a date to choose the rings.

This was her usual way of dealing with things—delivering a sweet cure after having given me the poison herself.

Every time we argued over Cameron, she would make it up to me somehow. She would get up early to make breakfast or book a candlelight dinner for us. She would take my hand with a smile and tell me how good I was. She would say she had gotten used to having me around and that she would definitely fall in love with me eventually.

Every time she dropped these sugar-coated bombs, my defenses would vanish instantly. I would completely forget the hurt and convince myself that even if Jessica were made of stone, I could warm her heart eventually.

My