I Crossed the World for Him, But He Chose Her Chapter 05
“Jo?! Where are you?! The landlady says you moved out! Where the hell did you go?! Why didn’t you wait?!”
He sounded hurt and furious at the same time, ranting until his voice went hoarse.
When he was done, I said quietly, “Dante, that day I waited ten hours. Thirty missed calls. Standing in freezing sleet until my feet got frostbitten. Do you know what that feels like?”
Silence. Nothing but his ragged breathing.
I watched the French countryside blur past the window and pulled my coat tighter without thinking.
“The driver told me there’d been an attack at that station the night before. A woman died. You live right there. You had to have known.”
My throat tightened. “And you left me there alone. For ten hours.”
“I thought something had happened to you. I was about to call the police. Then your phone rang, and I heard you laughing with Mia.”
“I felt pathetic, Dante.”
“Jo…” His voice cracked.
“Don’t,” I cut in. “Let me finish.”
“You’re a man. You knew how she felt about you.”
—
“But you used my trust. Used ‘she’s my friend’ as cover to flirt. Blurred every line.”
“Last night you hung up on her and came straight to me for sex. Do you have any idea how disgusting that made me feel?”
The taxi stopped in front of my new building. I paid, stepped onto the curb. The air was clean and sharp.
“Do whatever you want with Mia. But don’t contact me again.”
“Dante, let’s just end this. Clean break.”
I hung up before his scream could reach me, then blocked his new number.
Dante stared at the dead phone, his shoulders trembling.
Mme. Garnier patted his arm.
“There, there. Just a lovers’ quarrel. Miss Jo is a very reasonable girl. Give her some space. She’ll forgive you.”
Dante wiped his eyes, his voice raw. “Can I… see her room?”
“Of course, dear. I was coming to inspect it anyway.”
The apartment was spotless. Empty.
Dante wandered through it and stopped at the trash can.
He fished out a broken eggshell and a pharmacy bag containing frostbite ointment and medical antiseptic wipes.
—
That morning, he’d barely glanced at them. He hadn’t asked if she was okay.
And the egg… his cheetahed.
His phone rang. Mia.
“Dante? Are you okay? What happened?”
“Didn’t I tell you not to call today?” he said, his voice scraped raw.
“Sorry! I forgot! I was just worried…”
“She’s gone, Mia.”
Mia was quiet for a moment, then her tone brightened. “Oh… well, this is all my fault, right? Blame me. Come over, I’ll pour you a drink…”
“Mia.”
“What?”
“Don’t call me again.”
Mia forced a laugh. “Oh, come on… I know you’re upset, but don’t take it out on me…”
“Jo said she called thirty times that day. You had my phone. You really didn’t see?”
Mia’s laughter turned shrill. “I-I’m sorry? Maybe I accidentally turned it off?”
—
“She waited ten hours. And I went to the wrong station. Mia… we’re both selfish people.”
“Now she’s gone. And she doesn’t want me back.”
A sharp pain tore through him. Guilt, loss, regret. He remembered the first time he’d met Joanna Falconeri.
Winter. Snow had choked the roads.
He’d just finished a dishwashing shift and couldn’t afford the bus fare, so he’d walked miles back to school.
His toes were numb. Then headlights appeared.
Her car pulled over. Jo. His lifeline.
How could he have let her walk across ice alone?
Dante broke. “I’m sorry! I regret everything. All of it.”
Mia screamed. “What’s that supposed to mean?! We never slept together! What did we even do wrong?!”
“Dante, have some goddamn backbone! She dumps you and you fall apart?! Who cares?!”
“I care!” Dante roared. “Mia, are you deaf?! I fucking regret everything!”
He hurled his phone at the wall. It shattered.