"Maria, you're a wonderful girl. But there's already someone I like."
He told me he was saving all his firsts for the girl he loved.
Then, the year we graduated from college, Alfred bought nine hundred and ninety-nine roses and started setting up a confession.
Only to catch Maud kissing another man.
Alfred lost it. He charged forward like a man possessed and slammed his fist into the guy's face.
But in the next second, Maud stepped in front of the man, shielding him, her brow furrowed in irritation.
"Alfred, what the hell is wrong with you? You're acting like a rabid dog!"
Alfred stood frozen, disbelief etched across his face. "You're defending him. Over me."
"Defending him? He's my boyfriend."
Maud looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Then she looped her arm through the other man's and walked away.
After that, Alfred watched helplessly as the girl he loved drifted further and further from his world.
Maud started wearing high-end makeup, spending more and more time with men outside their circle.
She even—
He saw her with his own eyes, climbing into a Porsche late one night.
They had the worst fight they'd ever had, followed by a brutal cold war.
"Maud, what happened to you? You've become so shallow, so materialistic. You're not even the same person anymore."
"Who are you to judge me?" Maud shot back with a bitter laugh. "Alfred, take a good look at yourself. You're acting like you own me. Am I your girlfriend? Because last time I checked, I'm not."
"I'm not your girlfriend. Save your breath."
In a blaze of anger, they severed ties completely.
The day Maud left the country, she walked into the airport on another man's arm, laughing and chatting without a care in the world.
Alfred stood not far from the entrance, watching her silhouette disappear. The rims of his eyes were red.
His knuckles were white from clenching.
That night, he drank himself into oblivion.
He was dead weight, slumped like a ragdoll. I tried to get him home but couldn't carry him no matter what I did.
In the end, I booked a room at a nearby hotel.
The moment I hauled him through the door, Alfred found some reserve of strength I didn't know he had. He pinned me against the wall, then pressed me down onto the bed.
His voice came out raw and hoarse.
"Maria. Be my girlfriend."
"I can tell. You like me."
"You've been by my side all these years because you wanted this, didn't you? Well, here's your chance."