The Proposal They Planned Without Me

Chapter 2

A wave of revulsion swept over me.

Lois was one of the girls I'd sponsored.

Back then, she'd knelt before us, thanking us both and telling us what a perfect couple we made.

Now she was sneaking around with Kurt behind my back.

"Are you allergic to peanuts?" I asked, looking straight into her eyes.

"What?" She stared blankly for 2 seconds.

I shook her hand off roughly. I was done pretending to be civil.

Then I turned to him. "Kurt, we're breaking up."

Everything went quiet.

His head snapped toward me.

"Because I did someone a favor?"

Looking at his solemn face, I suddenly laughed.

What a convincing act.

If I hadn't known he was planning to propose to Lois, that he'd been calling me vicious, making things up about me, and sharing my private photos, I might have fallen for his pathetic lies again.

I took off the necklace he'd given me as a token of his love and tossed it in the trash.

Then I headed for the door.

"Janet!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him start to follow.

Lois caught the hem of his shirt, crying and shaking her head.

"No... It wasn't supposed to be like this..."

Kurt sighed softly and pulled her into his arms.

On my way home, the proposal chat exploded.

Group Member: Has Janet lost her mind? Who does she think she is without Kurt?

Group Member: I heard our bride-to-be cried until her eyes swelled up. Are we postponing the proposal? I stayed up until dawn handwriting all 500 invitations!

Group Member: Why doesn't Kurt just take the opportunity to dump her? They only got together because she wouldn't leave him alone anyway.

The messages flew past, but Kurt singled out the suggestion that he dump me and replied:

Kurt: Not yet. Wait a little longer.

I had no idea what he was waiting for.

As I packed at home, I realized Lois had been encroaching on our lives for a long time.

She'd even added little trinkets to his study and covered things in the stickers she used to entertain children.

Yet he'd never let me rearrange anything in there.

I swallowed my bitterness and turned on his computer.

I knew all his passwords. He'd only been so brazen because he was certain I'd never snoop.

Now I opened a hidden folder and found it packed with photos he'd secretly taken of me during our intimate moments.

There were videos of him sleeping with Lois, too. Fighting back disgust, I copied everything, then deleted the files.

As I closed the window, Kurt pushed the door open.

His face darkened at the suitcase beside my legs. "You're leaving?"

He strode over. The folder now visible on the screen happened to contain photos of us together.

He gave a knowing smile. "I knew you couldn't let go."

When I didn't react, he leaned in to kiss me.

Whenever we'd fought in the past, that had always broken down my defenses.

Because once, we'd held hands with our fingers intertwined.

Once, he'd dreamed up one surprise after another for me.

Once, we'd held each other tight, and he'd whispered that he loved me.

I'd always thought a kiss meant a love that burned just as fiercely.

Now, all I felt was disgust.

I shoved him away.

His expression turned serious.

"Janet, you always think you know best.

"If you break up with me now, won't that just confirm Lois is the other woman? What happens to her reputation?"