Chapter 7

• Bryan sat up and turned his head towards the door. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at her. He stood up and walked towards her until he was standing in front of her. They looked at each other, not saying anything. Their faces were a stark contrast to each other. Hers was pale as paper while his were wet from the tears that came from his eyes. Both did not know what to say and stood there looking at each other. Bryan recovered first.
• “Serene…” He reached out to her shoulder and called her name. The sound of his voice was unfamiliar to her. Serene looked at him, then to the man in the room. He had his back against them as he pulled his jeans up around his waist. Then she looked back at him.
• Words which used to come to her mind fluidly now eluded her. Her eyes darted back and forth at both men, disbelief written on her face. She closed her eyes tight and counted to ten. This is not real, she chanted. She prayed this was just a dream and her alarm will sound to wake her up. But the pain in her heart told her she was wide awake, and these were real. All of it was real. The lying, the deceit — everything.
• “Since when…” finally her voice came. While it was almost inaudible, it screamed the pain she felt.
• “Six months ago,” was all he said.
• “Why?” she asked, biting her trembling lips. She wanted to know and to understand why all this happened.
• Why did he cheat on her? Why did she deserve this? When did he change? Why didn’t she know? Her questions flooded her mind, but only one word escaped her mouth.
• “I’m sorry. Serene, I’m really sorry.” He knew he ought to say more, to explain more. He owed her that. But he did not know what to say. His eloquence left him.
• The whole situation was too much and too difficult for her to handle. It was such a hard blow on her. She never saw it coming. Just as she did not know where she took the courage to take the first step to walk towards his bedroom, she also did not know where she took the strength to step back and walk away.
• She wanted to scream at him, to beat him until he felt the same pain she was feeling. But she did not do it. She just walked away, or more aptly, ran away.
• She wanted to run away from everything, from knowing that he cheated on her, from the sad reality that she did not belong in his life anymore. How can she belong in his life now? How can she be part of his future?
• Serene built her world around him. She planned her life around his plans. She never imagined a future without him. But now, how can all those plans come to fruition? Her life seemed to be sucked out of her.