Picking Up the Pieces

George turned around and looked at Alice. "Really?" He asked in confusion.

Her face was filled with grief and indignation as tears flow from her eyes. "Of course, it's true. At this point, if you don't believe me, I don't know what else I'll do. Maybe I'll jump off a building and die to prove it to you."

He was shocked at hearing this. Could it really be that she wanted to kill herself over him?

"Okay. There's no need to do anything drastic. Maybe I can bring myself to trust you." George said, "But if you want me to really believe you completely, you have to promise me one thing."

Alice immediately beamed with joy and replied impatiently. "I agree. I agree. It could be 10 things or a 100 things. I would still be willing. As long as we can work things out."

George's heart skipped a beat. She really knew how to be convincing. She talked so sweetly that it made him feel like they were a couple who were flirting and flattering each other, especially when she was so anxious to make up with him. How great would it be if all this was true? Otherwise, what a pity for Alice's passionate performance.

"Alice, do you really want to get back together with me?" He asked.

"Yes. I really do. More than anything. George, didn't you say that you believe me?" She was distressed.

He was about to exhaust her patience. "All right then, let me see your sincerity. Starting now, if you help me with my job at the bowling alley every day for a fortnight, we'll get back together." He took out his employee ID card from his pocket.

Alice's expression turned sour when she saw it. "George, what do you mean?"

Then from another pocket, he took out a big stack of cash. Seeing the money, Alice's eyes lit up and her face regained its rosiness.

"George, is this money for me?" She said excitedly as she reached out her hand to take it.

He quickly dodged her and stuffed the money back into his pocket.

"Alice, are you willing to work at the bowling alley for me? You'll have to clean there and that includes cleaning bathrooms."

He stared at her with his dark eyes. Under his intense gaze, she frowned a little and said unhappily, "Ew, I can't clean bathrooms. That's so gross. Why would someone like me need to do that? If people find out, they'll all laugh at me."

"So you won't do it. Don't forget what you just promised me," George replied.

Although Alice was a thousand times unwilling, when she thought of the money in George's pocket, she hardened her heart and said, "Oh, okay. I- I agree. As long as it means we can be together again. I'll do whatever you want me to."

"Alice, you're almost starting to convince me. Great. So we'll go to the bowling alley after class, and I'll introduce you to the manager there." They headed back onto campus, which had gotten busier with more people in the courtyard than earlier.

That evening as Alice and George headed to the bowling alley, they bumped into Alice's friends.

"Alice what's up. Want to go to the mall? Lisa and I are going there now," Mary said.

Alice was tempted to go with them, but she shook her head to say no.

"Why not? What are you up to?" Lisa asked.

Alice was about to reply when George intervened. "Alice can't join you guys today, or for the next 15 days actually. She's going to be working at the bowling alley," George said.

"The bowling alley? Why?" Mary wrinkled her nose in disdain.

George smiled mischievously. "Alice called me to come over and see her this morning."

Mary and Lisa both looked at Alice with curious expressions.

"Yeah, she was crying and desperate to get back together with me. But I made a request first." He looked over at Alice who had her head lowered and said, "She can only have me back if she works at the bowling alley for a fortnight, you know, sweeping and cleaning bathrooms. Man, the bathrooms can get so messy there sometimes. Once I was cleaning a toilet and it got clogged. God, I had to use a plunger to get the poop out."

"George, shut up," Alice said, angrily.

"Alice, how can you talk like that? If you want to get back together with him, then you have to be a bit nicer to him at least," Lisa said.

Alice glared at her and replied, "This is between him and me. What business is it of yours? I didn't ask you to get involved."

"Alice, I'm just trying to help you out of the kindness of my heart."

"The kindness of your heart? You're just making fun of me," Alice pouted. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. All of you want to hit on George by pretending to be such good people, so you want to make me look awful."

"Alice, you've gone too far. Mary, don't bother with her. Let's go." Lisa was so angry that her face turned pale. She pulled Mary along as they left.

After they had gone, George suddenly felt bored and wanted to leave as well.

"George, where are you going away to now?" Alice walked back to him and took his hand refusing to let him leave.

He rolled his eyes. "Where do you think? I'm going back to my dorm to get some rest. You just have to go to the bowling alley and ask for Mark, the manager. I've already told him you're willing to work in place of me for the next two weeks."

"No you can't." No matter what, she couldn't let George leave. She had put too much work in and still hadn't gotten her hands on any money.

He saw through her act and said heartlessly, "Look, what do you want more? I've already said that if you want to get back together, you need to work at the alley for a while first. Otherwise, don't even think about it."

Alice had finally had enough. She pushed him away from her with all her might and yelled, "You go do your stupid bowling alley cleaning."

Her face was becoming distorted with anger. She pointed at him and said, "You're an ass, George." With that, she turned and left.

"Alice, are you really not going to do it?" He shouted after her.

"Fuck off! I'm done trying to get back together with a piece of trash like you." She was so angry that it felt like her lungs could burst.

Looking at George's calm, triumphant expression, she wanted to run back and slap him. She had never expected things to turn out like this. Of course, all of her begging George to get back together was always an act. Just a way to get at his money. When she realized that George was suspicious of her, she knew that she shouldn't rush things, but she hadn't known that George was completely different now.

Not only did he get fooled by her words, but he had somehow managed to humiliate her and make her look bad in front of her friends. In the end, she hadn't gotten anything. And she had upset two of her roommates who had always been nice to her for no reason. Clearly, he had wanted her to be furious and hate him.

George sighed to himself as he watched Alice walk away. As expected, it was all a ruse. For a moment there, he had almost believed her, but how merciless and ruthless people can be. It seems that he needed to focus instead on properly cultivating his relationship with his money.