Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Roseanne was jerked awake by the persistent knocking at her door. She shot up, her heart racing, sure someone was at her doorstep.

"Who's there?" she called out, caution heavy in her voice.

With Owen burning the midnight oil at the lab, she was on her own. If a burglar was at her door, she had no one to back her up.

The knocking paused for a moment, but the visitor remained silent.

Seeing that Roseanne wasn't budging, they resumed their knocking.

"If you won't speak, I'm not opening up."

"...Anne." Murray's voice came through, laced with a weary chuckle.

She was as stubborn as ever.

"...What do you want?" At the sound of his voice, Roseanne couldn't help but frown.

"Let me in. We need to talk. I promise I won't do anything. If it makes you feel better, leave the door ajar..."

"There's nothing between us worth discussing." Roseanne cut him off, clearly unwilling to open the door.

Despite his repeated knocks and pleas, she ignored him completely.

Murray seemed exceptionally patient today, persisting in his knocking even as Roseanne, fresh from her shower, picked up her phone in frustration. "Hello, officer? There's someone incessantly knocking on my door..." And so, Murray was eventually led away, half coaxed, half dragged by the friendly neighborhood cop.

Peace at last...

Roseanne lay down to sleep.

The next morning, she got up, prepared a hearty breakfast of pancakes and bacon, dressed, and headed to the lab.

She planned to stay there for the next couple of days, avoiding home entirely.

Partly to dodge Murray's potential knocks, and partly to really push forward with her work.

She had to finish this paper before the grad school semester kicked off in September.

Killing two birds with one stone.

Unexpectedly, the very person she hoped to avoid appeared in front of her as she stepped out, darting out from the nearby alley to block her path. Roseanne was shocked.

"Is it funny?" Murray glared at her, his face a mask of cold frustration.

A sleepless night coupled with a

stint in the station had etched faint blue shadows under his once handsome features, giving him a wom, tired appearance.

His gaze at Roseanne was a mix of love, resentment, frustration, and pity.

"Spent the whole night getting a lecture on civic duty. Happy now?" His words sounded accusatory, yet his tone was surprisingly gentle.

Gentle enough to give the illusion he was almost cooing.

Roseanne met his gaze, her eyes calm, betraying no emotion: "First off, I wasn't playing a game; you truly were bothering me. Secondly, your 'education' was because of your disturbance in the middle of the night, you deserved it."

"Why didn't you open the door?"

Roseanne: "I never open my door to strangers."

Those three words hit a nerve, stirring Murray's temper. "Stranger? You don't know me, or is it I who don't know you?! What about the past six years?" "You said it yourself, that's the past. Since it has become the past, let's not let it influence the present!"

Murray asked, "You hate me that much?" Hate enough to deny everything.

"No," Roseanne shook her head, locking eyes with him, each word deliberate. "Hate stems from love.

Without love, there can't be hate, and

I don't love you anymore."

In the immediate aftermath of their breakup, despite Roseanne's outward composure, she harbored resentment.

Resentful of his easy betrayal.

Bitter about his ruthless decision to end things.

Mourning the loss of a six-year relationship that couldn't be salvaged.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

But as she weathered the hardest times, gradually healing her emotional wounds, looking back now, she felt like she had traversed a mountain range. Roseanne said, "I've moved on. It's time you face reality too, and start living your life properly."

"Move on? How can you just move on?!"

Murray's sudden outburst only served to amuse Roseanne amidst his relentless hassling.