"You stupid fool. What did you really expect to happen? You knew she didn't love you. How long did you think it would be before she couldn't stand the charade anymore?" Colin's thoughts berated him mercilessly as he sat staring at the engagement ring laying on his smooth palm. It was a beautiful work, the platinum band etched to show small vines of ivy, twisting along the circumference. It mirrored the twisting of his own thoughts, yet his thoughts were not nearly so beautiful.
But how could she have been so cruel? The darkness in her eyes and the things she had said. After all the times he had been there for her.. "No! Been there for you!", his mind countered, "You weren't there for her, you were there because YOU wanted to be. You wanted to get some of that hot little body of hers so just like some kind of addict you did whatever you had to do to get it."
Wait, no! That's not why he had spent all this time with Emalia. Of course he did think she was beautiful, and the moments of closeness they had shared were amazing, but he loved her, he truly did, and only wanted the best for her. "Ha ha ha, the best that YOU can give her. Face it, it's been all about you all along. She told you so herself."
Colin squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists trying to shut out the voice in his head. "NO! STOP IT!", Colin shouted, his voice echoing loudly off of the walls of the cave. For now his thoughts seemed to comply and the nagging voice fell silent. Colin looked about him. Why was he in this cave anyway? Sure he had wanted to be alone, and he knew he was sure to be alone here, but this was not a good place to be. He didn't know where he was going to go but it needed to be away from here.
Colin stood up from the riveted steel box upon which he had been sitting and shoved the ring into his pocket. He quickly made his way out into the daylight.
