- Finally, at the courthouse, we were met by a
- young woman. She glanced at Jesse, then
- smiled at me. “You two need a thirty–day
- cooling–off period.”
- Her smile was kind, but her eyes sent another
- message: Don’t regret this.
- I looked at Jesse. Tall, handsome, impeccably
- く
- dressed–the picture of a wealthy
- professional.
- The clerk was mistaken. Professionals don’t
- always act professionally.
- Jesse was more anxious than I was. He
- frowned. “Do we have to?”
- She looked at her computer. “I’m sorry, sir,
- it’s the regulation.”
- I shrugged, indicating I understood.
- Jesse sighed, took back our documents, and
- said coldly, “I have a meeting. I’ll go.”
- He drove off. I took the bus to work.
- Fortunately, the courthouse was close to the
- bus stop. It was rush hour. I saw the crowds.
- and hesitated.
- I took a step back, almost stepping on a cat’s
- tail.
- I apologized and saw the owner looking at
- me.
- He was in his twenties, pale and thin, as if
- <
- recovering from an illness.
- He smiled. “I’ve never seen anyone apologize
- to a cat before.”
- I sat beside him, keeping some distance.
- “I’ve never seen someone walking a cat
- before,” I replied.
- His cat was a black cat with white paws, like
- it was wearing tiny white gloves. It was very
- close to him, lying still at his feet.
- “Your cat is very attached to you,” I
- commented.
- He smiled. “Animals are sensitive. He
- probably knows I’m dying.”
- I gasped. “But you’re so young!”
- He looked up at the sky, his eyes flickering.
- “Youth is meaningless. You need to be alive
- to matter.”
- Words of comfort died in my throat, met by
- the sadness in his eyes.
- Buses came and went, the crowd thinned.
- く
- Only the two of us remained. He continued to
- gaze at the sky, sunlight dancing on his
- eyelashes.
- “I’m also sick,” I said calmly. “I have amnesia.
- I remember everyone but one person.”
- After a long pause, he said softly, “That
- person must have been important to you.”
- Important. Just forgetting him left a gaping
- hole in my heart. Despite the bright sun, I felt
- increasingly cold, shrinking inward.
- I stubbornly lied, “Not important. I hate him.”
- The cat rubbed against my ankle. I reached
- out and stroked its head.
- He looked at me, his eyes shining, with two
- dimples on either side of his lips.
- He extended his hand. “I’m Ethan. This is
- Lucky.”
