His Obsession, My Fate

Chapter 5

It was drizzling lightly when Ophelia arrived at Diamond City, she stepped out of the taxi and quickly brought her handbag over to her head rushing toward the entrance.

“s**t!” She patted the little water from her arm and dress. “Why did it choose to rain now?” She smooth down her dress, and adjusted her makeup again, she paused to stare at her eyes in the mirror. Vincent once said her eyes looked like honey, and he was right.

“He’s going to propose.” She thought, her chest fluttered with nervous excitement. “Three years together, and this is it, finally.” She grinned, putting her makeup in her bag.

She went inside and glanced around, the restaurant was luxurious, different couple sat at each table eating and chattering softly. She smiled when she caught a glimpse of Vincent. He was already seated at the table by the large window, staring into his glass of wine.

Ophelia’s brows drew together when she noticed how serious his expression looked. “Is he also nervous?” she muttered.

Vincent looked up and saw her. He pressed his lips into a forced smile as he waved her over. Ophelia walked toward the table.

“You look…” he scrutinized her before she sat down. “Beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Ophelia smiled. She leaned forward reaching for his hand across the table. “I’ve missed you so much.” Vincent let her take it for a second before gently pulling away to adjust his cufflink,

Ophelia pressed down her lips and retracted her hand. “He’s probably just nervous, proposing is a big deal.”

“I already ordered your favorite meal.” He told her as the waitress brought their dinner. “Let’s eat.” He said, picking up his cutleries.

Ophelia nodded and took a bite of the steak. “The meal here is nice.” She smiled and glanced around. “That must be why a lot of people come here.” She returned her eyes to him. “It melts in my mouth.” She added.

“Yeah, eat more.” He pointed, avoiding her gaze.

After dinner, they brought dessert. Vincent had been quiet and Ophelia noticed it, so she decided to break the silence.

“This day has been absolute hell. You know how stressed I’ve been about the job hunt.” She said, sipping her wine. “That interview at Harrison Group was a nightmare.” She leaned forward. “I bumped into the CEO in the lobby,” she paused, recalling how she had crashed down with him and even kissed him.

She pressed down her lips and continued quickly, pushing the thought away, that had been a mistake and there was no point bringing it up to Vincent.

“He was arrogant, and I snapped at him before I even realized who he was, I even stormed on his feet when he grabbed me.” She closed her eyes at the embarrassing moment. “God, Vincent, I probably ruined any chance I had there,” she opened her eyes. “But maybe it doesn’t matter now, he is rude and…”

Ophelia stopped talking when she noticed Vincent only nodded absently, his eyes were fixed somewhere over her shoulder.

“Why isn’t he really listening?” She thought to herself. ”Vincent, how has your week been?” she asked, she noticed she had been talking about herself, and hadn’t asked about him. Perhaps he is stressed from work.

Vincent exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ophelia, we need to talk.” He said.

Ophelia nodded hopefully, as her thought spiraled. “This is it Ophelia, this is the moment Vincent propose to you, the moment he takes out the ring and put on your finger, but why is my throat suddenly dry? I need to be able to say ‘yes’.” She quickly reached for her glass of wine and lifted it to her lips.

“This isn’t working anymore.” Vincent said. “I think we should break up.”

Ophelia’s wine glass froze on her lips, her pupils dilated, momentarily stunned, it felt like her whole world of love was shattering to the ground. She slowly lowered her cup as she stared at him for several seconds thinking she had heard wrong.

“What?” She let out a cracked chuckle. “Vincent, if this is some joke, you should…”

“It’s not a joke.” He finally met her eyes, his intense gaze bored into hers. “You’ve been so busy, we’ve been drifting apart, and this isn’t working anymore…”

“Drifting apart?” She interrupted him. “What are you saying?” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I turned down that amazing freelance opportunity in Paris last year because you said long distance would be too hard for us. I stayed here to build a life with you, I’ve been trying to making things work out between us, and now you’re telling me I’ve been too busy?”

“Don’t make this harder than it should be, Ophelia…”

Ophelia scoffed as she stared at him in disbelief. “You invited me to this beautiful restaurant, you let me get all dressed up thinking…” her eyes stung with humiliation. “I thought you were going to propose tonight, Vincent,” a knot rose in her throat. “If this is a joke, stop it, my heart is too fragile to take this prank.” Her voice came out in whispers.

Vincent looked down at his wine glass unable to look at the tears that had clustered in her eyes. “I just… I can’t do this anymore.” He muttered. “I don’t love you enough to stay, Ophelia, I only stayed this long because I felt bad for you.”

Anger coursed through Ophelia’s vein, and she grabbed her glass and hurled it across the table at Vincent face. The liquid splashed his face and white shirt, Vincent head shot up, his eyes dilated in shock as he stared at her, stunned. She heard the gasps from the other tables.

“Go to hell, Vincent!” She hissed, grabbing her purse, she stood quickly and stormed out through the door, ignoring the eyes that stared in her direction, she can’t be the only one humiliated tonight.

It was raining heavily when she made it out of the restaurant, her whole body felt numb as she walked down the sidewalk, ignoring the rain as it hit her skin and dress, mingling with the tears in her eyes.

Three years of sacrificing her life for a man, who ended things without a proper explanation, she had given him her whole heart, her time, rejected offers just to be with him, and now, he had stared into her eyes and said he doesn’t love her enough to stay, said he only stayed because he felt sorry for her.

Her chest ached with broken heart, her whole body felt numb, her world tilted as she walked down the road in tears, rain-soaked. Memories of their time together flooded her mind but she tried hard to push them all away.

Just then her phone buzzed in her purse. Wiping the wet from her blurred vision, she pulled it out, expecting an apology from Vincent. Instead, the preview stopped her cold.

Her fingers trembled as she opened the email and read it. “Dear Ms. Ophelia Parker, after careful consideration, we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for the senior translation role. Your skills and experience stood out. Please report to the head office tomorrow at 9AM…”

Ophelia blinked back tears. “I got the job?” she let out a broken chuckle. “f**k, I got the job!” she shouted with tears rolling down her cheek.