Anne immediately fell as soon as she opened Jack's car door since she was unaware that she was currently on the beach. She lost her balance when stepping her foot on the sand. Jack startled the moment he saw Anne fall, he immediately got out of the door next to him and ran towards Anne who was still sitting on the sand.

"You really are the stupidest girl I know, Anne," said Jack coldly as he cleaned Anne's face, which got dirty with sand.

​​

"Wh-why didn't you tell me that we are ..."

"Don't talk!!! Your lips are now full of sand, Anne!" Jack shouted back, he was shocked when he saw that Anne's lips were also covered with dirt.

Without waiting long, Jack grabbed Anne's face and took out his handkerchief, he painstakingly cleaned Anne's face from the sand. It took a long time for Jack to clean the sand from Anne's face, he did not want the sand to get into Anne's eyes and infected them.

"Okay, I've done cleaning it," said Jack quietly as soon as he finished removing all the grit that stained Anne's face.

"Thank you," said Anne shortly.

"Get up, how long do you want to sit on the sand like that. You need to clean your clothes from the sand as well," added Jack shortly, holding out his hand to Anne who was still sitting on the sand.

With a little hesitation, Anne took Jack's hand that he handed over to her. It was normal for her to be hesitant since she still remembered her last meeting with Jack at Newcastle Upon Tyne which ended badly. Jack also got nervous the moment Anne looked hesitant to accept his hand. He then looked down to take Anne's two hands and helped her wake up quickly. When Anne stood up from her sitting position, the trousers she was wearing were full of sand. Jack could only take a deep breath after seeing her clothes also got dirty. He was about to kneel to clean the sand left on her clothes but Anne immediately took her steps back. She did not want Jack to help cleaning herself from the sand again. Since Anne suddenly stepped back and did not know her footing, she fell back after losing her balance. Jack responded immediately when he saw that Anne was about to fall behind, he then grabbed Anne's body so that she did not fall on the sand. However, because Jack was in an uncomfortable position he finally fell along with Anne. Fortunately, he managed to control his body by changing the position so that his body fell to the ground first. As result, Jack fell on the sand while Anne fell on top of Jack's body, she almost kissed Jack if she didn't cover her face with her hands.

When she realized that she fell on top of Jack's body, Anne immediately tried to get up. Without caring anymore about the sand dirtying her clothes, Anne immediately rolled away from Jack, she chose to keep a distance from the man she had known for a long time.

"Stupid," muttered Anne quietly as Jack sat down.

Jack, who did not hear Anne's words clearly enough, immediately turned towards Anne with a questioning look.

"I didn't say anything," said Anne quickly.

"I also didn't ask, Anne," Jack replied curtly.

"Ishh sucks," said Anne quickly.

Jack's smile widened when he heard Anne's words, he then cleaned his hair from the sand with one hand while staring at the seawater not far from where they were currently sitting.

"How do you feel, Anne?" Jack asked quietly to open the conversation after they had been silent for a long time.

"Did you just asking me about how I'm feeling right at this moment? Of course, I feel annoyed because you took me to the beach without asking my permission first," replied Anne quickly as she folded her arms across her chest.

Jack sighed at Anne's words, he seemed to hold back his emotions while trying so hard to not get mad at her this time.

"Not now, but your feelings yesterday at campus when you saw your ex-husband and best friend reappeared before your eyes," said Jack quietly.

Anne's face immediately changed when she heard Jack's words, her mouth was locked instantly. She looked at Jack with a gaze that cannot be described for a long time. There was only the peaceful sound of the waves on the beach between them for some time.

"If you don't want to talk about them, forget about it and pretend I never asked about them then," Jack added softly to break the deafening silence between them.

"It feels strange, I thought that all my feelings of disappointment and hurt had disappeared after two years of not seeing them. But when I saw them back, the pain returned to my chest. The image of their betrayal seemed to be spinning back in my brain's memory. It reminds me of their disgusting behavior that night over and over. The harder I try to forget them, the stronger the memory lives inside of me. I no longer have any feelings for Leon, I also gave my up friendship with Steffi. But I don't know why the pain still haunts me somehow. You used to tell me to give up what wasn't mine anymore, but why doesn't the pain go away from inside me, Jack?" said Anne at length in a hoarse voice.

"Have you sincerely given up Leon for your ex-best friend? Or maybe deep down you still expect the man who had betrayed you to come back, Anne?" asked Jack quickly.

"Since I found out that he cheated on me with Steffi, my feelings for him were gone right at that moment, Jack. So, never assume that I still hope for him to come back to me, I've forgotten about him already. It's just that the pain still lingers and it feels so hard to get rid of it from my heart. Honestly, I feel like I'm being tortured by this feeling. I want to live quietly without thinking about that terrible past," replied Anne again.

To be Continued