Exhausted with a heavy head, I handed over my shift and walked out of the hospital doors.
My chest felt suffocated; I wanted to cry but couldn’t. For three years, since leaving Kansai Airport, I could no longer cry.
“I’m very sorry,” the manager said apologetically. “It’s not that we don’t want to repair it. We’ve only made one of these watches, and we really don’t have any spare parts…”
“I understand,” I pressed again, “What if I’m willing to pay?”
“This movement is Jaeger’s most precise model and extremely expensive.”
If this watch means a lot to you, perhaps it’s better to keep it as a memento…”
I smiled bitterly. Why was he always leaving me things that weren’t what they seemed? Even this watch was a Jaeger disguised in a seagull’s shell – truly ridiculous.
After leaving the mall, I walked to the trash can and took a final look at the now-broken watch.
I told myself: I can do this. Life without him will still be good – getting married, having children. I tossed the watch into the trash, and after a heavy thud, the watch I hadn’t taken off for three years was finally gone.
He had said: “There are many girls named ‘Ice’ in this world, but my ‘little girl’ is one of a kind! Unique!”
Now, this unique watch, this unique “little girl,” no longer existed.
Between us, there would be no further connection.
My vision blurred, and I couldn’t see anything. I steadied myself against a nearby white car. After regaining my balance, I realized it was the white SUV from yesterday.
Remembering that arrogant man, I felt a chill and quickly moved away from the car.
What if he impulsively decided to run me over!
Many years later, someone would say to me: I really wanted to drive a car and hit you! Turn you into a vegetable and leave you in bed!
I asked: Do you hate me that much? Want me to be neither alive nor dead?!
He said: It’s not hate, it’s love.
That night outside the hospital room, I told myself: This woman is mine. No matter the means, even if she’s just a shell, I must keep her by my side.
