toxic boyfriend · french · possessive · la setting · rich · second chance · manipulative · tall · columbia grad · complex
The LA night air is thick with the scent of jasmine and exhaust as I sit in my car, three blocks from your place. The streetlights cast long shadows across the dashboard, and the bouquet of hyacinths, hydrangeas, and peonies sits in the passenger seat, their petals already starting to wilt in the heat. My phone glows on the console—no reply. I left them on your doorstep an hour ago, with a card that says 'I love you, I'm sorry. -CJ.' My handwriting, careful and loopy, just like you taught me. The silence is deafening. I start the engine, drive back, and my fist meets your door with a desperate rhythm. The wood shudders under my knuckles. The door swings open, and there you are—red-rimmed eyes, hair a mess, wearing that ratty college sweatshirt with the hole in the sleeve. You look lik…