The Sea Breeze Said Goodbye to You

The mall was running a promotion, and I won a honeymoon package for two to an island getaway.

It was Bali, the place Crystal James and I had always dreamed of visiting.

I was so excited I couldn't sleep.

I took time off work and spent more than half a month planning the trip in advance.

But on the day we were supposed to leave, Crystal breezed through check-in.

And I got stopped by the staff.

I was standing there, confused, trying to figure out what was going on.

Then I turned around and saw Ulysses Pruitt in a white shirt, walking briskly toward us, dragging a suitcase.

Crystal smoothly took the boarding documents from his hand and casually explained it to me.

"Ulysses just went through a breakup, and he's been down."

"This is the perfect chance to take him out and help him clear his head."

"We've got a long future ahead of us. Next time there's a chance, I'll take the trip with you."

I watched the two of them slowly walk away.

And suddenly I felt like our years together had reached their end right along with them.

1.

I don't know how I made it out of the airport.

By the time I got home, it was already dark.

Mom was in the kitchen simmering soup, and when she heard the door open, her face filled with confusion.

"Why are you back? Where's Crystal?"

I stood in the doorway dragging my suitcase, my throat closed up like something was lodged in it.

I couldn't get out a single word.

Mom could see how down I was, but she didn't press me.

"Did you and Crystal have a fight?"

"You're about to be a married man, and you're still this unsteady. Go wash your hands and eat first."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me slowly after dinner."

The more she talked like that, the worse I felt.

I sat down at the table, but my mind kept replaying that scene at the airport.

That white shirt Ulysses had on was the one I'd spotted right away while planning the trip.

White linen, sharp and crisp.

I'd even paired it with a light-colored dress, thinking Crystal and I could save them as matching outfits.

But when Crystal saw the price, she frowned.

"Sixteen hundred for a shirt you'll only wear once is such a waste."

"There are going to be so many wedding expenses coming up. Wouldn't it be better to keep the money?"

I thought she had a point.

In the end I just bought a plain white shirt for a little over a hundred.

But now that ordinary shirt was left at home with me.

And that expensive white shirt was on Ulysses's back.

My chest felt tight, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I dragged my suitcase back to the bedroom and lay on the bed, too listless to move.

At ten that night, Crystal called.

I could hear waves in the background, mixed with Ulysses's happy laughter.

"We've landed. Are you home yet?"

I held the phone and gave a quiet answer.

She seemed to finally remember something.

She sighed, with a hint of helplessness.

"Xavier, are you mad?"

"Ulysses just broke up with his girlfriend, and he's in a really bad way. He even said a lot of extreme things this afternoon."

"We grew up together, after all. I can't just stand by and ignore him."

When I didn't answer, she paused.

Her voice grew even gentler.

"Come on, don't be angry."

"When we get back, I'll make it up to you with that watch you've always wanted, okay?"

That familiar tone made my chest go heavy.

All these years, she'd always been like this.

When things were good, she was impossibly gentle.

And when her temper flared, she could infuriate you half to death.

I was just about to say "forget it" when my phone suddenly buzzed.

The photographer I'd booked had sent me a photo album.

Mr. Summers, Ms. James said she wants to make some changes to the photography package.

Take a look. Do you like the style of these wedding photos?

I froze, and the words came out before I could stop them.

"You changed the photography package I booked?"

Crystal went quiet for a moment, then went on explaining.

"Ulysses wants a set of wedding photos to spite his ex-girlfriend."

"Since you couldn't come this time anyway, I changed the package to the style he likes."

I couldn't help raising my voice.

"Then what about our wedding photos?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to book this photographer?"

Crystal was silent for two seconds, and her tone turned a little impatient.

"Aren't all photographers pretty much the same?"

"If you want photos, I'll take them with you when I get back. Why do you have to make an issue of it with someone who just went through a breakup?"

I wanted to say more.

But Ulysses's voice came through the phone, hurrying her along.

Crystal hung up in a rush.

In the huge, empty room, all that was left was the ticking of the wall clock.

I took a deep breath, deleted the message I'd already typed out, and sent a new one instead.

"You've given him our wedding photos and our honeymoon. Are you going to hand him our wedding too?"

After sending that message, I turned off my phone.

I lay there alone, staring at the empty ceiling, and didn't sleep all night.

Crystal and I had been together for seven years.

The year I started working, she got sick, and neither of her parents was around.

I took time off to look after her, slept in the hospital cot beside her for a whole week, and wore myself down to skin and bones.

Later, work put us in different cities for a year.

I was afraid her stomach trouble would flare up again, so every week I took the train for more than three hours to see her, cooking her soup and meals.

So many things. So many years of love.

And in the end, none of it could measure up to one word from Ulysses"heartbroken."

I ached for a long time, and finally, hugging my pillow, I drifted into a heavy sleep.

Until my mother's knock at the door woke me.

"Xavier, what happened between you and Crystal?"

"She called me first thing this morning, saying she couldn't reach you. She was so upset she didn't sleep all night."

I pulled the blanket up higher and said nothing.

Mom sat on the edge of the bed and sighed.

"What young couple doesn't fight?"

"You've already set the wedding date and told the relatives. You can't just break it off over something small."

"She has a good job, and she puts real effort into you. Don't let a fit of temper cost you such a fine girl."

I closed my eyes and didn't explain.

Every fight before this, I had been the one to back down.

But this time, what she'd taken away was the honeymoon I'd looked forward to most.

Mom wanted to keep at it, so I made an excuse about a headache and went downstairs to clear my head.

At the gate of the complex, I ran into a former coworker.

She was carrying breakfast, and the moment she saw me she came over smiling.

"Xavier, that's really not fair of you! When did you get married? How come there wasn't a word about it?"

I froze for a second.

"What marriage? Crystal and I haven't even registered yet."

"You didn't get married?"

She froze too, and quickly pulled out her phone.

"Then who's the guy your girlfriend posted about on her feed? We all thought the two of you were off on your honeymoon."

I looked at the phone she handed me.

The most recent post was a set of wedding photos of Crystal and Ulysses.

Ulysses's face wasn't shownonly half of him in a dark suit.

Crystal stood beside him, holding a bouquet, their shoulders pressed close together.

The two of them stood close in the sunset.

The caption was just one simple line.

"Love is staying together for a lifetime."

Below that were photos of them eating at a trendy restaurant.

That restaurant was one I'd found staying up late doing research.

It was in an out-of-the-way spot and only served six tables a day.

To get a table by the ocean, I'd put down a deposit two weeks ahead, and I'd even noted that the day was our anniversary.

Now Ulysses was sitting in the seat I'd booked, with the flowers and cake that should have been mine right in front of him.

The photos after that were all the spots I'd mapped out in my itinerary.

The cliff swing, the seaside chapel, the sunset restaurant.

Even the camera angles were exactly the same as the guides I'd saved.

In one of the photos, Ulysses sat on the swing.

Crystal stood a little way off, holding up her phone, carefully taking pictures of him.

The caption read:

"Shot for more than three hours, and finally got one he was happy with."

Back when I asked Crystal to take photos for me, she was always impatient.

She'd snap one quick shot and shove the phone back into my hand.

But now she would patiently take a hundred more just because Ulysses wasn't happy with one.

I scrolled down a few times. The comments were full of well-wishes for the two of them.

"Your man's so handsomecongratulations!"

"Happy wedding! May you two grow old together."

Crystal explained nothing.

She just quietly liked every single one of those well-wishes.

One person in the comments asked:

"That isn't Xavier, is it? You took wedding photos with another mandoes Xavier know?"

Crystal didn't reply.

When I refreshed, the comment was gone.

My coworker saw how pale my face had gone and realized something was wrong.

"The person in the photosthat isn't you?"

I shook my head and looked down at the set of photos again.

In the pictures, the bride and groom had their fingers laced tightly together.

Happily accepting everyone's blessings and praise.

And I, the groom-to-be who was actually supposed to marry her, had become the outsider who couldn't be seen in the light.

My coworker and I got the screenshots, and I posted all of them to the family group chat.

The group went quiet for half a minute.

Then Crystal, who had been unreachable for so long, sent a long voice message.

"Xavier, what are you stirring up this time?"

"Ulysses and I grew up together. He's like my own little brother."

"He only took those wedding photos to spite his ex. Stop being so unreasonable, okay?"

Before all this, Crystal had countless chances to explain.

But she never said a word.

She let everyone misunderstand their relationship.

The voice message kept going.

"How other people want to guess is their business. Am I supposed to explain myself to every single one of them?"

"We've been together seven years, and you can't even give me that much trust."

"Xavier, you're not so young anymore. Can't you be a little more sensible?"

I turned up the volume.

A lilting piano melody drifted in the background.

It was the wedding march from Bluepoint Bay Chapel, played only for couples who truly love each other.

My heart gave a hard, painful twist.

I left the group chat and said nothing more.

The next afternoon, the doorbell at home rang.

The moment I opened the door, Crystal wheeled her suitcase inside.

Ulysses trailed behind her, looking somewhat worn out.

When Crystal saw me, her voice was full of exhaustion.

"Because of that temper of yours, I ended my trip early and rebooked an overnight flight back."

"Now we're going to talk this out in person, and then you're going to go into the group chat and unsend that message about canceling the wedding."

I glanced at Ulysses standing behind her.

"What's done is done. There's nothing to talk about."

Crystal's face darkened, like she wanted to say something.

But Ulysses suddenly stepped up to me and spoke in a low voice.

"Man, I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"I just went through a breakup and I was in a bad place, so I begged Crystal to come clear my head with me."

"The wedding photos were something I wanted my ex to see. Crystal and I really have nothing going on."

He talked faster and faster, like he was desperate to pile all the blame on himself.

"Crystal was worried about you the whole trip. She bought you a gift and said she'd make it up to you once she got back."

"If you want to blame someone, blame me. Please don't cancel the wedding over me."

I looked down at the gift bag Ulysses held out.

In that huge bag lay nothing but a leather bracelet, the kind a store gives away for free.

The limited-edition watch was right there on Ulysses's wrist.

I looked up at him and let out a cold laugh.

"Ulysses, do you take me for an idiot?"

Ulysses froze for a second, then stepped toward me again.

"Man, don't be like this. I really do want to apologize to you."

"Crystal and I spent a long time picking this gift out."

"It's not much, but it means a lot coming from us..."

He set the gift bag down on the entryway cabinet.

The bag didn't sit steady, and the glass ornament next to it suddenly toppled off, the shards slicing the back of his hand.

Crystal's expression changed instantly. She rushed to find the first-aid kit and tend to his cut.

"Is it deep? Should we go to the hospital?"

Ulysses pressed the back of his hand and said quietly that he was fine.

"Don't blame Xavier. It was my own fault for not setting it down right."

His words made excuses for me, but his eyes stayed fixed on Crystal the whole time.

Only after Crystal finished taping the gauze over his hand did she turn to look at me.

Her eyes were full of fury.

"Ulysses came all the way back to apologize to you. What more do you want?"

"If you've got a problem, take it out on me. Don't go out of your way to make things hard for him!"

This "little brother" she was shielding behind her was actually only two months younger than me.

Yet I had never once been given that kind of favor.

Just as I was about to turn and leave, my gaze happened to land on Ulysses's wrist.

That brand-new watch was glaringly obvious under the light.

It was exactly the "compensation" Crystal had promised me over the phone.

Ulysses noticed me looking and instinctively tugged his sleeve down over the watch.

"Xavier, don't get the wrong idea. Crystal just asked me to try this watch on for her."

"Someone like me could never deserve something this expensive."

The band was fastened too tight, cutting a red ring into Ulysses's wrist.

Crystal immediately told him to take it off, her tone full of tenderness.

"Enough. It's just a watch. If Ulysses likes it, let him have it."

"Why do you have to be so aggressive about everything?"

If the wedding ring and the honeymoon could be handed off to someone else, what was the point of this wedding at all.

I said nothing more and turned toward the bedroom.

I took the ring she'd given me when we got engaged and placed it, too, into Crystal's palm.

"You're right."

"Since Ulysses likes it, let him have it."

Crystal looked down at the ring, and her face finally changed.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

I let go and looked at her calmly.

"It means the wedding is canceled."

"Who you want to travel with from now on, who you want to take wedding photos with, none of it has anything to do with me."

Crystal James looked at the ring in her hand and suddenly smiled.

"Cancel the wedding?"

"Xavier, do you really think you can force me to cut off all contact with Ulysses this way?"

She set the ring back on the table.

"Stop being ridiculous."

"Our families already discussed and settled on this marriage. How would you clean up the mess if you called off the engagement now? Who would ever be willing to marry you after that?"

"You're not a kid anymore. Don't throw a tantrum."

"The wedding goes ahead as planned. Once you've calmed down, we'll talk things over properly."

With that, she turned and left with Ulysses Pruitt.

Crystal didn't show up again for the next several days.

She went to work, lived her life, and kept planning the wedding as usual.

Only now Ulysses was always at her side.

The two of them came and went together, for all the world like a married couple.

My friends sensed something was off and came around to ask about Crystal and me.

Even my mother couldn't help coming over to talk me around.

"Xavier, Crystal explained everything to me. There really is nothing going on between her and Ulysses."

"She's a sensible, good girl, and she knows where the line is."

"She's been good to you all these years. You can't get married and then expect her to cut off contact with every other man."

Wedding photos. A honeymoon.

Is that really something ordinary friends do together?

I just didn't want to explain anymore.

Suddenly there was a pounding at the door.

A crowd of people stood menacingly outside my home.

The middle-aged woman at the front glared at me and snarled.

"You're Xavier? The man who's been harassing my son's wife?"

Before I could even work out what was happening, Ulysses's older brother charged up and grabbed me by the collar.

"Crystal and my brother are getting married any day now, and you're still clinging to her, bent on wrecking someone else's family."

"Today I'll teach you a lesson on my brother's behalf, and show you what shame means!"

The moment the words left his mouth, his fist slammed into my face.

I pushed my mother behind me and could only raise my arms to block the blows raining down, without hitting back.

The commotion at the door drew plenty of attention.

Seeing the crowd of onlookers grow, the middle-aged woman looked even more pleased with herself and raised her voice.

"Everyone come look at this. How can there be such a shameless man?"

"My son and his wife are childhood sweethearts, grew up together without a care, and this man insists on destroying what they have."

She held up her phone.

On the screen were wedding photos of Crystal and Ulysses, taken in Bali.

But that wasn't all.

Scroll back and there were photos of them hugging, kissing.

Some had even been taken a year ago.

On Ulysses's birthday, Crystal had celebrated with him at a hotel.

Last New Year's Eve, she'd lied to me that the company had called an emergency overtime shift, but in the photos she was sitting at the dining table in Ulysses's home.

The two of them wore matching pajamas, sitting side by side on the sofa.

They'd kissed their way from the living room all the way to the bedroom.

I stared at the screen, a buzzing filling my ears.

The middle-aged woman grew smugger still, self-righteous words pouring out.

"See that? My son and his wife have always had a wonderful relationship."

"It's all because of you, pestering them without end, deliberately driving a wedge between them."

"Today I'm going to smash up your place and let everyone see how you stalk another man's fiance!"

Ulysses's brother kicked over the entryway cabinet, and several people rushed in, punching and kicking me.

I shielded my mother behind me, but out of nowhere Cheryl shoved her hard from the side.

My mother's forehead slammed against the corner of the wall, and blood streamed down at once.

"Mom!"

"My mom has a heart condition, don't touch her!"

The Pruitts finally stopped when they saw the blood.

Cheryl spat at me viciously, then turned and left with her people.

The rest of the crowd swarmed off after her.

I forced myself to stay calm, took out my phone, and called 911.

But the gossip around me stabbed into my heart like knives.

"Isn't that the Summers boy? He looks so honest, how could he do something like this?"

"You can know a face but not a heart. No wonder his parents divorced. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I say."

"Living in the same neighborhood as someone like that, what bad luck!"

At the same time, messages from Crystal kept popping up, one after another.

"The wedding is set for the eighth of next month. It's been a long time now; you should have calmed down."

"According to the customs back home, the bride and groom can't see each other before the wedding."

"Ulysses and I are planning the wedding together during this time, so stop letting your imagination run wild."

I could hear the ambulance siren coming from not far off.

I pressed down on my trembling hand and slowly typed back one word.

"Fine."

The wedding went ahead.

But the one attending it was no longer me.