: Awkward Reunion

3

The Police Station.

After being notified that I had to take a urine test, it suddenly dawned on me. 'Looks like this Summer character isn't content with just the entertainment section; she's trying to claim a spot in the crime section, too!'

The results of the urine test came back quickly. Once it was confirmed to be negative, a young female officer asked me a few simple questions, took my statement, and then let me go.

After getting my phone back, I sat in the waiting area of the station's main hall and called Vivi Willow to come pick me up.

I was thinking about calling my editor-in-chief to report this huge story, but before I could dial, a pair of black sneakers appeared in my line of sight. I slowly looked up. He wasn't in uniform, just wearing simple black casual pants and a black t-shirt. His face was bathed in the stark, white fluorescent light of the station's hall, making him look as remote and imposing as a god.

I was very unhappy with having to look up at him like this, so I stood up resentfully. But that didn't improve the situation much.

Right. He's 6'2", and at 5'5", I look like a dwarf next to him.

He used to always say, "This is perfect. When I hug you, you can hear my heartbeat."

He also used to say, "And I can tell how long it's been since you washed your hair."

Back when we were together, he was always like a smug, clingy little boy, not cold and distant like he was now, keeping everyone at arm's length.

'Damn it, I shouldn't have taken off my heels!' I glanced at the high heels I had tossed on the chair beside me.

I brushed my stray hair back, trying to shake off the effects of the alcohol and pull myself out of my memories. Only then did I notice he was holding a jacket in one hand and, in the other, a pair of pink slippers that were completely at odds with his vibe.

Just as I was wondering what was going on, he bent down and placed the slippers at my feet, then casually tossed the jacket to me.

"Does your job require you to go this far?"

His tone sounded somewhat irritated.

I was about to ask him what he meant by that when I suddenly remembered what had happened in the interrogation room. In my haste to prove I was just a reporter, I had pulled open my clothes and taken out the recording pen clipped to my bra.

For a moment, I couldn't decide which was more mortifying: the cliché, melodramatic reunion with an ex I'd parted with on bad terms, or this current situation. But one thing was for sure—having both happen at the same time was unbearable.

I gave an awkward cough and nonchalantly slipped on the slippers. They were a perfect fit.

"Just a regular citizen trying to make a living," I said casually.

Just as I was hesitating, debating whether to make some awkward small talk with my ex or just turn and say goodbye, Vivi Willow appeared at the station entrance, a whirlwind of commotion.

"Mona Linden, what is wrong with you! You drank yourself right into a police station!"

Vivi Willow rushed over to me, probably ready to unleash a barrage of questions, but she seemed to fall silent after seeing the person standing next to me.

Before she could have a bigger reaction, I quickly grabbed my bag and the heels from the floor and dragged Vivi Willow out of the station.

"How dare that bastard show his face in front of you again!" Vivi finally exploded after we got into a taxi.

"It was just work," I said nonchalantly.

Too much had happened in one day. My brain felt overloaded, so I leaned against the car window, closed my eyes, and forced myself to stop replaying everything. Vivi Willow didn't say anything more either.

4

My breakup with Leo Reid wasn't some high-drama scene out of a TV show. There was no cheating, no catching him in the act, no physical brawls or red-faced screaming matches.

In fact, there were no warning signs at all before it happened.

A simple text from him—"We're not a good fit. Let's break up."—was all it took to end our four-year relationship, a length of time that felt neither long nor short.

I immediately started typing out a long, incoherent jumble of questions, pleas, and raw emotion.

But then I deleted it all. I knew he wasn't the type to say things lightly, and once his mind was made up, a team of wild horses couldn't change it.

I deleted his phone number, his WeChat, every way I had of contacting him. It was the only way I could stop myself from reaching out, the only way to hold on to what little dignity I had left.

Vivi Willow had been a witness to our relationship from beginning to end. So, in the months after we broke up, she also witnessed my complete breakdown. She saw me living in a daze, crying my eyes out in the middle of the night, and pathetically throwing myself into work just for a distraction, numbing the pain a little more each day.

I don't hate him. He gave me a perfect relationship, four dazzling years of my life. Perhaps I was just too greedy. Having had something so wonderful, I couldn't accept that it wasn't meant to last forever.

...

I first met Leo Reid on a perfectly ordinary afternoon at the end of my sophomore year.

"There's a basketball game on campus this afternoon! Wanna go? I heard they're playing against the guys from the Police Academy next door!"

Vivi Willow was my best friend, my ride-or-die since childhood. By some bizarre twist of fate, we'd gone to the same kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school. We couldn't even escape each other in college. We'd gone from not being able to stand the sight of each other to being practically inseparable.

Vivi Willow's one and only hobby was scouting for cute, young pretty-boys. So there was no way she'd miss out on a basketball game—a place practically overflowing with testosterone.

"Plus, I heard the campus heartthrob from the Police Academy is on their team and he'll be playing today."

Vivi Willow's eyes held the glint of a predator stalking its prey. She was practically drooling.

"You have to come with me! We need to put that pretty face of yours to good use!"

"All you ever do is study, study, study! We're juniors already, and you don't have the slightest interest in dating! Don't you know you're missing out on the full college experience?!"

I frowned, noncommittal, but I couldn't stand her endless pestering. I gave in and agreed to go.