"It's not going to work? Why? What are you talking about?"
Jean remained standing in front of Jess's apartment door, trying to understand what he had just heard. The flowers were still in her hands, and for a few seconds, neither of them said anything.
"Do you really think this is going to work?" Jess asked.
"Look, Jean… things haven't been good lately, and clearly, this isn't going to work."
"Jess, going through rough patches like this is normal in a relationship. We're not always going to be okay."
"But if things are like this now, what's it going to be like later?"
"Jess… that's not how this works. We're supposed to work through our disagreements and…"
Jean stopped.
Until that moment, he had been trying to find a solution, thinking about what they could do to fix things and what he could say to make her understand that those two weeks didn't have to mean the end of everything. But as he listened to her, something became painfully clear.
She wasn't looking for a solution. She wasn't waiting for him to give her a reason to stay. She had already made up her mind. And Jean realized there was no point in trying to convince her anymore. What was he supposed to do? Convince her to continue a relationship she no longer wanted?
Her heart wasn't in it anymore.
It didn't matter how many arguments he could make or how many things he could remind her of. If she didn't want to be with him anymore, there was nothing he could do to force her to feel the same way as before.
Even so, something inside Jean was too hurt to stay quiet.
"You're a liar…" he finally said.
Jess frowned.
"What? A liar? Don't talk to me like that."
"A narcissist and a liar…" Jean clenched his teeth. "You never really loved me..."
"Jean, of course I love you, but… I love myself more."
Jean let out a small laugh, although there was nothing funny about it.
"Your love is a big lie."
Jess remained silent.
"It's just a paper boat."
Jean looked at her one last time.
"I never want to see you again."
He turned around.
"Jean stop, wait…"
He didn't want to listen. He didn't even know what Jess was saying behind him anymore. Maybe she was trying to explain herself. Maybe she was angry. Maybe she wanted to tell him something he would later regret not hearing.
"it doesn't matter..."
Jean kept walking.
He was angry. He was sad. And, above all, he was... hurt.
For a long time before Jess, he had thought it was better not to trust people too much. Not because he believed everyone was bad, but because trusting someone meant giving them the chance to hurt you.
And he didn't want that.
It had always been easier to keep some distance.
But with Jess, things had been different. They had chemistry from the very beginning. Or at least, that was how he had felt. With her, he could relax, talk about anything, and, for some reason, feel a sense of peace he wasn't used to find in other people.
That was why he had decided to trust her.
He had given her the benefit of the doubt. He had believed her words, her promises, and that "forever oath" she had told him while watching the fireworks.
And now he regretted it.
He regretted it more than anything.
The walk home felt strange, as if he were walking underwater. His thoughts came to him muffled and distant, like voices he could barely hear.
She lied to me…
His feet kept moving.
Liar.
One street.
She lied to me.
Another place.
Liar.
Jean kept walking without paying attention to anything around him. The world passed by in front of him, but he didn't really seem to be there.
And without realizing it, he ended up walking through places he knew far too well: the corner where he had once waited for Jess while she was at work, the restaurant where she used to feed him directly from her fork, the street where they had walked together so many nights holding hands, and the park where they had once sat for hours talking about whatever stupid thing came to mind.
Jean saw those places, but he wasn't really looking at them.
He simply kept walking.
His clothes changed.
Afternoon became night.
Night became day.
Then another night.
And Jean kept walking.
Sometimes alone. Sometimes with his phone in his hand. Sometimes with an empty expression on his face.
Always returning to the same place.
His apartment.
For two weeks, Jean would sit on the edge of the rooftop of his apartment building, staring out at the city as the wind gently moved his hair.
"Two weeks already, huh?"
He wasn't expecting an answer. He didn't need one.
Fourteen days had passed since that conversation, and although he still thought about Jess more than he would like to admit, at least he no longer felt like everything was going to fall apart whenever he remembered her name. Of course, the ideal solution would have been to forget her name, her face… everything. If only there were some magic button he could press to erase her from his memory.
Resentment.
Disappointment.
And a small part of him that still didn't know what to do with any of it.
Jean rested his hands on his knees and lowered his gaze. He remembered the flowers, the fireworks, her hand intertwined with his, that "forever"…
He slowly stood up.
He walked until he was standing right at the edge of the building and looked down. The distance was enough to make any sane person immediately step away.
Jean simply stood there.
"I regret the day I decided to trust you."
The wind hit his face. Jean closed his eyes for a few seconds.
Then he shouted toward the horizon:
"Liar!"
His voice disappeared among the buildings.
He took a deep breath.
"I'll never trust another woman again…"
He opened his eyes.
"It's just not worth it anymore."
"What isn't worth it?"
Jean froze completely.
The voice had come from behind him.
A woman's voice.
Very close.
Too close.
"Who are you yelling at?"
Jean turned his head.
"What…?"
He didn't have time to do anything else.
His foot lost its footing.
"Uh uh!"
His body tilted backward, and before he could regain his balance, he fell.
The ground disappeared beneath his feet.
The wind slammed against his body as he fell backward.
Jean looked up.
For a moment, everything seemed to move too slowly.
The sky.
The buildings.
The light.
And that silhouette standing at the edge.
A woman.
Long, blonde hair.
Her face was barely visible from below.
Jean narrowed his eyes as the world began to blur.
The woman had leaned over the edge.
She was reaching a hand toward him and Jean could barely make out her eyes.
And then…
Everything went black.