Valentine’s Day was supposed to be dinner and nothing else. I’m Briar, 28, deep in an EMT course, and I left that restaurant thinking my life had just fallen apart. I had no idea the night was about to get much stranger.
My name’s Briar.
I’m 28.
This happened on Valentine’s Day, and I’m still mad about the tiny heart-shaped butter pats.
For context: I’ve been in an EMT course for months. It’s not a “cute little class.” It’s the first thing I’ve wanted this badly since I was a kid.
I quit my job because my boyfriend, Jace, insisted.
“Briar, you’re burning out,” he said.
“Let me handle rent while you focus. Two months and you’re certified.”
I pushed back.
“What if something happens?”
Something happened.
He took me to a candlelit restaurant that looked like it came with a complimentary engagement ring.
Roses. Soft music. Couples doing intense eye contact.
The waiter called us “lovebirds,” and I almost evaporated.
Jace was smiling too hard.
He drank half his wine in 10 minutes. I poked at my pasta because my stomach felt like it was tumbling down stairs.
Halfway through, he set his fork down.
“Briar… I don’t think I’m in this the way you are.”
I blinked.
“Are you serious?”
He nodded, calm. “I’m sorry.
I just don’t feel excited anymore.”
Four years.
Reduced to “not excited.”
“Not excited,” I repeated.
He sighed. “I don’t want to fight.”
“I’m not fighting. I’m asking what you mean.”
He glanced around like other couples might overhear.
“I just don’t see a future.
I thought I did. I don’t.”
I laughed, sharp.
“You told me to quit my job.”
My hands started shaking. “You begged me to focus.
You said you’d support me until I finished.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I’m not saying I regret supporting you. I’m saying I can’t do it anymore.”
“So you waited until Valentine’s Day, in public, to tell me you’re done.”
“It’s not like that.”
“What is it, then?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.
I just don’t feel it.”
Something in me just sort of gave up.
If he wanted to end things, I couldn’t force him to stick around.
“Okay,” I said.
He looked relieved. “Okay?”
“Okay.
Then we’re done.”
“Briar—”
I stood, grabbed my coat. “Enjoy your wine.”
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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