Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Everyone in the circle knew Roseanne Cole was head over heels for Murray Sherwood. She was so crazy about him, it was like she had no life outside of him, totally wrapped up in his world all the time. Every time they broke up, it took less than three days for Roseanne to come crawling back, begging for reconciliation. Those words would never escape hers in a world where "let's break up" seemed on everyone's lips.

The room fell into an eerie silence for five seconds when Murray walked in with his new flame.

Roseanne, in the middle of peeling an orange, stopped cold. "Why's it so quiet in here? Why's everyone staring at me?"

"Anne..." Her friends gave her worried glances.

But Murray acted as if nothing was amiss, wrapping his arm around his woman and sitting on the couch. "Happy birthday, Cliff."

He was so brazen and nonchalant.

Roseanne stood up. It was Cliff's birthday, and she didn't want to make a scene.

"Excuse me. I'm going to powder my nose." she said.

She closed the door behind her and could hear the conversation picking back up.

"Murray, Roseanne's here. Didn't I give you a heads-up? Why'd you bring her along?"

Murray, you've crossed the line this

a cigarette, a smile playing on

in the restroom and touched up the makeup, Roseanne looked at her reflection and curled her lips in disdain.

living a pathetic

the room made her grip the doorknob tightly, almost losing her composure. Murray was pressing his lips against the woman's, their saliva moistening

cheers

is

at it! They're

mood's set. Give

she had loved

off..." Someone murmured,

Everyone turned to look.

back? It's all in good

glancing over calmly. "Roseanne, since you're here today, let's lay everything

"Sure,

chase. "We've been on and off for years, and to be honest, I'm just tired of it. There's nothing

her fists, her nails digging into her palms, yet she felt