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This time, I waved it off. "Standard. I'm something of a celebrity in this small town."
If we lived in different times, they would have dragged me naked through the marketplace and pelted me with rotten fruit.
Manon looked around skeptically again. "And the gossip?"
"That's normal too."
"I wouldn't call it normal to constantly feel the need to badmouth others," she retorted a bit too loudly.
A moment of silence followed, and I witnessed some of the bystanders shamefully look away.
"What's it about?"
"The age difference between Gray and me."
"Pfft. Remember when I bumped into my professor at one of those kinky parties during my first year? With his wife? And his ‘pet’? God, what a night."
I opened my mouth, but all that came out was a soft laugh. Someone nearby choked on their scrambled eggs.
What was Manon up to? I neither remembered the story nor recalled her ever attending university. I gave her a warning look, but it didn't stop her from unabashedly continuing.
"I don't see the appeal of being led around on a leash, but I bet if I were the one leading, I'd have quite some fun. Oh, and do you remember Zara? The one who sold pictures of her feet?" By now, it was obvious that Manon was making up stories. At least to me. The rest listened intently, probably bursting because they had to withhold the rumors and gossip.
She leaned forward and winked at me. "They'll have forgotten all about you by tomorrow if I have anything to say about it."
I would have loved to kiss her for her effort. However, since the next rumor was just around the corner, I would have to repay her by answering her questions instead.
"I didn't realize that growing up out here came with so many prejudices," she continued. "Like people can’t live their lives the way they see fit. You're not using him, he's not using you, and even though I haven't really seen you two together, I'm damn sure that what exists between you is the real deal. Soon, you’ll be like those famous couples in literature."
"Because you've decided to write a book about us?"
She wrinkled her nose. "No, but I'd read it."
"Do you even know a couple from any famous books?"
"Romeo and Juliet."
"Yeah, but that's a poor example."
"Helen and Paris." Manon thought she was triumphant. "Orpheus and Eurydice. Bonnie and Clyde. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Uhh… Napoleon and Josephine."
One couple more tragic than the next. Amused, I shook my head. "Maybe we shouldn't compare Gray and me with any couples from classic literature or history. They all had unhappy endings."
I simply ignored the fact that there would be no happy ending for Gray and me either because growing old together wasn't in the cards. If he died at some point, I might still have half my life ahead of me. Or… he could just keep living so that we could leave this life together someday.
What tragic romance, I mocked myself.
"So, Gray has apologized, and now…?" Manon brought the conversation back to the main topic.
"I belong to him."
"That sounds like he owns you."
Oh, he certainly owned a part of me, and I couldn't be happier about it.
"When you say it, it sounds like I'm a pet. We are together, okay? Officially."
"Did you make him suffer a bit for his foolish mistake?"
