stained with the imprint of love... me and you

Erica dialed Candice's cell phone number from the phone in the store, but was picked up after a long ring.

"Where are you, Candi?" Erica asked without having time to make sure it was Candi who answered the phone.

"In a motel." Candi replied in a crying voice. "But I'm driving your car."

"You tell me the address." Erica touched the cash in her pocket. "I'm going now."

"..." Candice was silent for a while, but still answered. "Oh well."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The motel that Candice mentioned was not far from the store, and a taxi took Erica to the door of the hotel in a short while.

The hotel is still a bit new, although the decoration looks ordinary, but Erica personally prefers such a simple and clean style.

Candice lives in the third room on the second floor. Erica climbed up to the second floor and counted.

Then he stopped at the door of the third room and gently knocked on the door with his hand.

Within seconds, the door was opened by Candice.

Candice gave Erica a haggard look.Then he just turned around and went back into the room.

"I don't know if you have eaten." Erica walked into the room and closed the door behind her. "So I picked up some sandwiches on the way. I didn't have much to eat myself anyway."

Candice just curled up on the bed and didn't say anything to Erica.

"It's better... let's go back to the store first." Erica felt that living here in a motel could not solve any problems except for spending some money.

Candice still fell on the bed without saying a word.

"Are you listening to me, Candi?" Erica sat on the edge of the bed and pushed Candice's shoulder with her back to her.

"Don't touch me." Candice said suddenly.

"What's wrong with you?!" Erica felt that Candice's reaction was a bit inexplicable.

"What's wrong with me?" Candice turned over and looked at Erica with a sullen voice. "I think I must be out of my head. Always take your advice."

"What happened between you and Jesse was an accident." Erica didn't feel that there was anything wrong with her advice to Candice until now.On the contrary, the current situation made Erica more determined that it was right not to let Candice speak out.

"Then it was an accident that you slept with Jesse?!" Candice asked mockingly.

"I slept with Jesse?!" Erica was stunned for a moment, and then guessed that maybe Jesse said it to Candice on purpose. "He told you?"

"You and him just slept together. It's not you, of course it's him." Candice sneered. "Are there any bystanders?"

Hearing Candice's angry tone, Erica just reached for the bag of sandwiches.

"That guy lied." Erica took out the sandwich and handed it to Candice. "Would you like to eat it?"

"What's the lie?" Candice turned her head to the side without looking at the sandwich Erica handed over. "Telling a lie that I never slept with you?"

"You are very cooperative and believe it." Erica saw that Candice didn't want to eat, so she picked up the sandwich and took a bite.

"But why..." Candice didn't ask the whole question, and already guessed the reason why Jesse was angry and lied at that time.

"You hurt him. So, he wants you to feel pain too." Erica looked at Candice. "Don't people like this?"

"This pain makes me feel like I'm going to be disabled." Candice smiled wryly. "But why is it just disabled, not just dead?"

"Because you still have expectations." Erica tossed aside the sandwich with only one bite.

"That's useless." Candice shook her head. "Those are useless."

"He hates me..." Candice buried her face in her hands.

Erica leaned against the wall at the head of the bed, looking at Candice who started to choke up and cry.It suddenly occurred to me that I had never felt such sadness for anyone.Although she also loved Neil at that time, Erica, who was indifferent to his betrayal, couldn't remember whether she shed tears because of it.

'Enough is still good enough. ' thought Erica with a sigh. 'I don't want to become unable to control my own feelings for anyone one day.There is no need for such 'involuntary' produced by love.That would just be a hassle. '

'Of course. ' Erica smiled to herself, as if echoing the conversation in her head. 'Nor need anyone for me. '

'But have you ever paid attention to qualitative rules in the emotional world?It never seems to be. Erica thought of Matthew, and then paused to think about the question just now. 'It seemed that the rules and regulations in his own world gradually became clearer for that guy. '

'It seems that I have become involuntary. '

"He didn't ask you to come and find me, right?" Although Candice already knew the answer to the question, she still wanted to confirm it.

"If you don't want to hear the answer you don't want to hear, don't ask the corresponding question." Erica hinted to Candice.

"Do you think he and I will get back together?" Candice wiped the tears off his face with his hands, and didn't continue the question just now. "Just like before."

"Don't expect it to be the same." Erica picked up the sandwich she had just thrown aside. "You can't do that to him yourself. Ever since you had sex with Matthew. Can't you?"

"Then how can you force that guy to do something you can't do yourself." Erica frowned and took another bite of the sandwich.

"Oh... I'm so selfish." Candice said to herself.

"People are selfish." Erica swallowed the sandwich in her mouth. "Without exception."

"There must be someone who is more selfish." Candice smiled. "Compared to Jesse and you, for example. I'm more selfish."

"That's because you have the power to be more selfish." Erica echoed Candice's words. "The chips in your hands are different, and the bets you make will naturally be different."

"The possibility of losing everything is even greater." Candice said self-deprecatingly. "Like now."

"So." Erica threw away the half-eaten sandwich again, slapping the crumbs off her fingers. "Fairness still exists."

"How are you and Matthew?" Candice suddenly turned the conversation to Erica and Matthew.

"Me and him?" Erica was obviously a little surprised by Candice's sudden question, but she just said it flatly. "It's okay. Just go to bed."

"That guy finally got what he wanted." Candice smiled, and the make-up smudged by tears looked even more attractive on Candice's pretty face.

"People will get what they want more or less." Erica didn't want to continue talking about herself and Matthew.After all, the immediate situation is not the point. "It's just a matter of time."

"But if it takes too long, the things you want will become things you don't want." Candice was suddenly afraid that Jesse would never miss her again, and she would just disappear in his life.

"There's always something you want next." Erica smiled. "We're actually not as dedicated as we thought."

"No." Candice denied. "I just want Jesse. Just him."

"Leaving him made me more sure of that." Candice resisted the urge to cry again. "Actually, when a person is angry, he should find someone to knock him out. Otherwise, those things he said and did out of a moment of anger...wouldn't go away like the calmed anger..."

"So we invented the word 'forgive'." Erica looked at Candice who was starting to feel sad again. "But putting 'wait' in front of the word is, indeed, a torture."

"Compared to those." Candice smoothed her long black hair down in front of her face. "Waiting for nothing... is the most tormenting."

"It's a pity we can't do anything..." Erica looked at the clock on the wall.

"Actually, I've always wanted to have a baby with Jesse." Candice said in a serious tone.

Erica was startled by Candice's words.

"But that's impossible." Candice smiled seeing the surprise on Erica's face. "Even you think I must be crazy."

"Why... would you have such an idea..." Erica actually felt that Candice's idea was too crazy. "You're only 20 years old, aren't you?"

"I just want to have my own family, my own husband, and my own children." Candice seems to be looking forward to a dream that she can't realize. "I was adopted by someone, but the family who adopted me later changed their minds and sent me back to the orphanage."

"I've always been thrown around." Candice smiled at Erica. "I don't know what it's like to be told by my mother to drink milk and take lunch every day before going to school. It's similar to being detained by the teacher, and being reprimanded by someone called Dad if you fail the exam. Not reconciled to the mood."

"The family that adopted me for a short time has never done it." Candice continued to recall. "However, it's too strange to have these now at my age."

"So I hope that another little guy I love can have it." Candice seems to be happy with the plot she imagined. "Also, I think I probably prefer the role of mother over child."

"But Jesse just laughed at my thoughts." Candice shook her head and said with some pain. "I think I'll always remember what he said."

"I will not get married! I will never marry someone like you! You want a child?! Yes! Find another man to make your belly bigger! Find someone else to entrust you with! Don't bother me !" Candice said in the same tone that Jesse used to quarrel.

Then Candice suddenly laughed again, smiling but tears streaming down her face.

"I know...I know he said it when he was angry...he apologized for it afterwards...and regretted it..." Candice said with a sob. "I know it all...but those words are etched in my mind forever...I will never forget..."

Erica couldn't understand how sad Jesse's words made Candice, especially since Candice still loved Jesse so much.Because in Erica's world, she'd heard far worse things than that.Suffered worse than that.It's even numb to the point of getting used to it.

"Everything will be fine, Candi." Erica just said softly, and then hugged the crying Candice.