Absinthe novel Chapter 41

"It is you," JM said, his curls still exactly the way I remembered them. He started approaching me. Although I didn't see him snag a paper towel, he had one in his hand, and he used it to wipe water droplets off my chin. Then, he moved close enough to sniff my neck.

"Excuse me," I said, pushing past him.

But JM was as fast as I remembered him to be. With one swift motion, he pulled me back by the wrist. Our builds were pretty similar so he shouldn't have been stronger than me, but he was, and I was stuck.

Stuck with a bitter memory of my past.

"What's the rush?" he said. I wanted to rip the smile off his face. It looked as genuine and sincere as it did back when I had been captivated by it, and it was about to capture me again. I hated it.

"I'm with friends," I told him. "I'm supposed to meet them at—"

"That crazy bitch who totaled my car?"

"Don't call her that!"

"Why not? She is a crazy bitch."

I struggled to get his hand off of me, and thankfully, he let go. I walked as fast as I could toward the exit, but I sensed him walking behind me.

"I tried to get back to you," JM said as we neared Starbucks. "But Faye got me a restraining order. I know I lied about my mom. But I was able to raise the money, and now I can pay you back."

I tried my best to block out the words coming out of his mouth by thinking of other things I could focus on. However, my thoughts kept returning to the letter JM had written me. Why had I not thrown it away? I'd been with him for less than a month, and for the love of God, I hadn't the slightest idea why I had fallen so hard. Though perhaps it's more appropriate to say I had crashed and burned, and I was still burning.

"I meant every single thing I said to you," JM continued.

And just like that, I found myself reminiscing on the things we had done together, like some pathetic schoolgirl who can't get over her first crush.

"Look at me, BJ." JM's voice sounded like he was about to break down and cry. I knew that he was employing his above-average acting skills, and yet it took all my willpower to pretend like what I was hearing was white noise, idle chatter from everyone else whose stories I would never care to listen to.

Soon enough, his hands were on mine. He tugged at them until we were face-to-face. His eyes were boring into me, and there was no escape.

"Will you remember how you felt about me if we kissed?"

"JM, you have a wife and a kid!"

There was no mistaking the look of shock that registered across the bastard's face. Did he really think I hadn't found out about it?

"You scammed me for half a million. Can you at least own up to it?"

"I don't love her," he barked back. "You're the one I love, BJ. We can take care of the baby together. I'll provide for you. We'll be a family."

The pent-up anger inside me had nowhere else to go now. It had been waiting to spill over and make a mess of things since last night with Jiwoo. And it was much stronger than the pain blooming in my chest.

I laughed, or rather, roared in laughter. It was loud enough that people around us stopped and started giggling as though infected by a virus I alone carried.

"Are you hearing yourself?"

"I'm serious."

"For fuck's sake, JM. Give me back my money, and I'll call it quits. I'll reserve some ounce of respect for you. It was a courageous thing to do, after all. And you did it for your family, so props to you for that."

"You don't believe me?"

"I don't. I should have seen the red flags, but I was so eager about being in love that I disregarded all of them. C'mon, JM. If you can't repay me, keep the money, but have some decency to be truthful about it!"