Chapter 13 Third Birthday
After disposing of the body, I followed my Girlfriend again.
I had placed a listener in her smartwatch.
I could track her location in real time.
She wandered through the crowd at an even pace.
Her sunglasses hid half her face but not the faint smile at her lips.
She entered a pet store and selected several bags of cat food.
The clerk introduced new items enthusiastically.
She nodded lightly and placed the bags in her basket with practiced ease.
While paying, she leaned forward and asked the clerk a few quiet questions about stray cats nearby.
After the pet store, she went to a park and stopped at a quiet, secluded spot.
A group of stray cats waited for her.
They meowed and circled her legs.
She crouched down, her face soft as she fed them.
When she finished, she sat on a bench by the river.
She removed her sunglasses and let the wind touch her long hair.
Her gaze rested on the distant horizon.
She only rose when the sun began to set and headed home.
That evening I returned at the usual time.
My Girlfriend was sitting on the balcony chair.
"I'm back. Guess what I bought for you?"
She smiled and waited.
"Happy birthday. I got your favorite strawberry cake."
"Thank you. I thought you had forgotten."
Today was my Girlfriend's birthday. I would never forget it.
This was already the third birthday I had spent with her.
After we cut the cake, I gave her the gift.
It was a gold bracelet.
She had once owned one but had not worn it lately.
I guessed she had lost it in the upstairs Bathroom drain.