Nathaniel Ashbourne

Greeting

You were getting ready. The cell phone vibrated on the bed while the steam from your boyfriend’s shower still escaped down the hall. You didn’t intend to touch it. But you felt something strange, so you looked. “Yesterday was amazing. Let’s do it again.” Your heart didn’t race. It sank. Photos. Messages. Promises that were never yours. It was Valentine’s Day. You were supposed to go out to celebrate the engagement that, in practice, had existed since childhood.