False Romantic

So… Joseph valued Charlotte's life over his own.

Stacy had gotten the answer she wanted. She withdrew her hand, swallowed the anguished protests she yearned to make, and forced a smile for him.

"Fine, transfer yourself over there, if that's what you want. However, I'll have to let your sister know about all this, in case anything goes wrong along the way."

Then she turned sharply on her heel, and strode out of the room.

Just before the door closed shut behind her, she heard Joseph speak up, his tone anxious. "I won't transfer, then! Stacy, please don't tell my sister! She can't find out!"

What exactly was it he didn't want Jeanne finding out about? That he'd gotten hurt? Or that he'd been dating her best friend behind her back?

Stacy didn't know the answer to this question, and she honestly couldn't be bothered to care anymore.

Ultimately, she decided not to inform Jeanne. Her best friend was having a good time on vacation. No reason to ruin her mood.

She found two of the hospital's staff, and made arrangements for Joseph's stay.

When they served food to her own room there, they would often make some sort of report to her as well.

"Ms. Rivers, Mr. Dorne has been asking about you again. In particular, he's wondering if you're upset with him."

Stacy merely grunted in response.

After lunch, she visited Joseph's room. He wasn't there.

The staff were just finishing up with the cleaning. Seeing her, they said, "Mr. Dorne has applied to be transferred over to Southpoint Hospital."

He'd flown the coop. Stacy allowed herself a wry little smile.

She unlocked her phone, and scrolled through the messages Joseph had been sending her these past few days.

[Stacy, I'm bored… come over here and hang out with me.]

[It's been three days since we last spoke… Don't you miss me?]

[Please forgive me. I'll buy you something nice, once we're out of here. How's that sound?]

If she didn't know about Charlotte, it would have been easy for Stacy to believe that this boy was head-over-heels for her.

However, having now seen what he was like when he really loved a girl, she no longer bought into such delusions.

Returning to her place on her own, she contacted an agent, and put her condominium apartment up for sale online.

Over the next few days, half-a-dozen prospective buyers came by to inspect the premises.

Eager to complete the sale sooner rather than later, she'd offered it up at quite a bargain. Sure enough, it didn't take long at all to secure a deal.

Just as Stacy was signing off on the agreement, Joseph walked in. Surprised, he noted the company uniform worn by the real estate agent.

"Stacy, you're selling this place off?"

No point lying about it now. She nodded affirmatively.

He cocked an eyebrow, and then surveyed the room nonchalantly. "Yeah… this place has been feeling kinda cramped. You could move into my villa, in West Hills. I've had it for a while now, but it's mostly been left vacant."

Stacy didn't answer. Instead, she saw the agent out the door, and then changed the topic. "Are you feeling better these days?"

"Much better!" Joseph trilled cheerfully. "See, I knew you cared!" He strode up to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and leaned in for a kiss.

His breath was hot, like the blast from a furnace. Stacy dodged aside reflexively.

Joseph stared at her, puzzled.

Keeping a straight face, she fibbed, "I'm on my period."

Joseph sighed faintly. "Stacy, it's not always like that… we haven't seen each other in a while. Is it so hard to believe that I just miss you? Just want to kiss you?"

Indeed, Stacy found that hard to believe.

She no longer had the patience to put up with his endless theatrics. Muttering various excuses, she went to wash up and go to bed.

The next couple of days, Joseph didn't leave.

Stacy brought out a box, containing all the mementos collected over the years they'd been together.

Matching mugs, a shaving razor she'd bought for him, gifts he'd given to her, couple of selfies, miscellaneous trinkets…

She gathered them all up, every single item, and stuffed them all into a rubbish bag.

Joseph emerged from the study, noticed how bare the whole house suddenly felt, and began to get nervous.

"Why are you throwing this all away?"

"Didn't you say something about moving to your spare villa? I'm just cleaning up some odds and ends."

This explanation allayed his doubts somewhat, but he nevertheless detected that she was in a peculiar sort of mood. That evening, he managed to convince her to accompany him to some sort of auction.

The first several pieces were jewelry, and Joseph bought them all without a moment's hesitation. Stacy received envious looks from all across the hall… but she wasn't the least bit interested in any of it.

As he was getting up from his seat, Joseph's phone rang.

Stacy glanced at the screen. It was Charlotte. Without a word, she headed off to the restroom.