Not Tonight

He didn’t say a word, just walked toward me with a softness that felt practised, and calculated. And then almost lovingly, he placed the box in my hand.

I stared at him, unsure. My gut twisted. I just knew this had to be another one of his mind games. Another performance I hadn’t agreed to be part of.

So I clutched the box, holding it between us.

He looked at me with that unsettling cheer in his v