Episode 2

Everything was coming up roses, right until the tail end of the sixth semester, when an incident occurred...

During one evening, Jaume invited Rose out on a date to celebrate their anniversary, so they met at an upscale restaurant. Everything was perfect until they exited the establishment.

The streets were dark, there were few people around, and in that particular street only Rose and Jaume were about to get into the car. When Jaume opened the passenger door for Rose to get in, three men ran up to them.

"Quick! Wallets and phones and give me the car keys!" one of the men demanded. Rose was very frightened, so Jaume took her hand and tried to comply with the man's orders.

Jaume quickly started removing everything of value from their bags. Rose was paralyzed with shock, which made Jaume start to remove her belongings as fast as possible.

However, the men found their pace too slow and eventually pushed Jaume aside to aggressively take hold of Rose to strip her of her possessions.

"Hey, leave her!" Jaume shouted at the men, ending up striking the man who had grabbed her first.

Naturally, the men’s response was also violent, and two of them repeatedly struck Jaume while the third man took Rose's things.

"I've got everything, let's go!" yelled the man, running to the driver's side of the car.

The three men dashed into the car and drove away. Rose saw this and then turned to Jaume, who was showing her his back.

"Rose... are you hurt?" Jaume asked. Rose walked over to him and gripped his hand, which was drenched in a red liquid.

Jaume turned toward her, staggering, and with a smile, embraced her. She immediately noticed a bleeding wound on his abdomen, pouring out blood that pooled rapidly on the ground.

"I love you…" Jaume said. Rose, speechless, began to cry, and he just held her while gradually collapsing. He fell to his knees and then sideways, ending up on the ground. A soft rain soon began to fall.

Rose wanted to call out to someone, but now more than ever, she found herself utterly unable to speak a word.

"The rain is beautiful... When... When the rain soaks your face... imagine it's me caressing your face..." Jaume told her, reaching a hand up to Rose's cheek...

...

PRESENT TIME...

...

After setting some water to boil, she made herself instant noodles, then sat in front of the TV to eat. She watched it momentarily until someone knocked on her door.

She was a bit puzzled but got up and went to the door to find an elderly woman there.

"Hello Rosemary, sorry to bother you but I’ve come to invite you," the woman said with a smile. Perplexed, Rose tilted her head, looking at her. "My son is coming back from New York this evening and I decided to prepare a welcome dinner. I'd like you to be there," the woman said.

"Me?" Rose asked, surprised.

"Yes, you. Come on, say you'll come, my son is very kind, you might even get along with him," the woman pressed.

"Mm... But..." Rose hesitated.

"No buts, young lady. It isn't right for you to be all alone and so young, you should get out more and make friends. My son is a doctor and you told me you were going to study nursing. Maybe you'll hit it off," the woman insisted. Rose didn't know what else to say. She didn't want to be rude, so she simply accepted.

...

Several hours later, Rose left her house in the midst of the rain, heading out to run some errands. She went to the nearest convenience store and began picking up a few things since the thought of being a guest and arriving empty-handed didn't sit well with her.

Deciding to buy some drinks and a cake, she pondered which cake to choose when a man approached her.

"Seems like the rain is quite intense, isn't it?" said the man, noting Rose's drenched condition. She glanced at him sideways and, feeling nervous, just nodded in agreement.

The man respected her silence, offering a smile before picking up a cake from the counter.

"Well, you should take a warm bath once you get home, the rain might make you sick. Excuse me," he said before leaving.

Rose remained silent, deciding not to respond, and simply continued contemplating which cake to take.

Meanwhile, the man reached the cashier where he placed his items to purchase while the cashier looked at the girl.

"Quite the odd one, don't you think? Doesn't talk and always makes this mess during rainy times," said the cashier to the man.

"Maybe she has bad luck and gets caught in the rain," the man replied, maintaining a friendly smile.

"Nah, she always does the same thing, even walks in the storm. Maybe that's why she moved to the country's rainiest city. That woman is a nuisance," the cashier noted, beginning to ring up the items.

Shortly thereafter, Rose approached the cashier with a cake and some drinks in hand while the cashier finished with the man's transaction.

"That'll be 112 dollars," the cashier told the man. The man quickly took out his wallet, extracted the money, and handed it over. As soon as he paid, the cashier bagged his items and passed him the bag.

"Thank you, see you later..." said the man to the cashier before turning to Rose. "Goodbye," he said to her. Rose looked at him and waved goodbye, so the man left the store smiling.

The man stepped outside and went to his car, placing the items in the back seat before walking around to get in. While buckling his seatbelt, he looked back at the store and saw something that took him by surprise.

On the floor, kneeling, was Rose in front of the now scattered cake on the ground, and before her stood that man, seemingly yelling at her. Assuming it fell and recalling how the cashier had spoken of her earlier, he decided to get out of the car.

Inside the store, the cake had slipped from Rose's grasp, now laying smashed on the floor. The cashier, of course, unleashed his fury and began to insult her.

"You're an idiot! You act like a child and look what you've done!" he yelled. "Now I have to clean up your mess!" he shouted again. Rose wanted to cry, feeling terrible for the mistake, and the man's words didn't help.— "At least pick up your stupid mess!" he barked.

Rose didn't hesitate and began to gather the cake pieces on the plate with her hands, which only made the man laugh at her predicament, deepening her humiliation and pain.

"I won't allow you to treat her that way," said the man, striding over to push the cashier aside and help Rose to her feet. She just looked at him with some confusion and then lowered her head in shame. "Apologize," the man demanded of the cashier.

"What? No, I won’t apologize. She’s the one who made this mess," the cashier retorted.

"Will it cover the cake?" the man inquired.

Rosemary pulled out a few bills from her pants pocket to pay for the cake and everything else she intended to buy, then handed it to the man at the counter. The man snatched the money and then glared at Rose with some anger.

"This'll cover the disaster you caused. But you won't get another free cake," the cashier declared, returning to his register.

Dragging her embarrassment, Rosemary walked out of the store while the man turned back to the cashier with great annoyance.

In the rain, Rosemary began to cry uncontrollably. She was embarrassed, humiliated, and sad for having ruined what she was supposed to bring to the welcome dinner...

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