The Screens Predict My Doom, I Rewrite The Script Chapter 07

The Screens Predict My Doom, I Rewrite The Script Chapter 07

Javier stayed in London for three days.

Every single day, he stood outside my apartment building.

Rain or shine, he didn’t miss a single one.

But I never went to talk to him again.

On the first day, Stevie came over to my place. Seeing the man downstairs, she asked, “Who’s that?”

“An acquaintance.”

“What’s he doing here?”

“No idea.”

Stevie leaned over the windowsill to take a look and clicked her tongue. “He’s pretty hot. Looks a little unhinged, though.”

I didn’t reply.

On the second day, Javier had a massive bouquet of red roses delivered, leaving them right by the building

entrance.

I glanced at them on my way out, then walked right past.

On the third day, he replaced the flowers with white roses.

The card read: (I’m sorry.]

I folded the card up and tossed it into the trash can.

I gave the roses to an elderly neighbor living downstairs.

On the morning of the fourth day, I pulled open the curtains to find the street below empty.

He was gone.

I stood by the window for a moment, then left for class.

My life returned to its quiet routine.

Occasionally, Stevie would ask, “Do you think he’ll come back?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” I replied.

“Have you really moved on?”

I kept my head down, working on a design sketch, my pencil scratching softly against the paper. “What else

am I supposed to do?”

The days continued to pass.

I slowly got used to life in London-accustomed to the tea, and to my advisor’s London accent.

I ended up redesigning my grandmother’s broken ruby bracelet into a necklace.

The shattered gemstones were set into a sterling silver base, and the cracks were filled with delicate gold threads. They looked like tree roots, like leaf veins, like the visible tracks of life growing anew.

When my advisor reviewed the design sketch, he said a single phrase, “This is healing.”

Healing.

Exactly.

I was healing myself.

Everything back home already felt like a lifetime away.

Until that phone call.