“Don’t Come To Christmas, My Ex Will Be There And I Want To Catch Up,” My Girlfriend Said After I’d Already Planned A Surprise And Bought Her Dream Gift. So I Returned The Gift, Packed My Things And Left. A Day Later, She Called Crying Because Her Ex Brought His Pregnant Fiancée.

Part 3

Anna came to my apartment on December twenty-sixth. She waited outside wrapped in a beige coat, eyes swollen. I went down because I did not want her freezing like a Victorian regret. She apologized before the door fully opened. She said she thought seeing Dylan would help her move on. I told her she could have moved on without excluding me.

When she described Dylan introducing his pregnant fiancée, I felt sorry for her, but not enough to forget myself. She said she felt pathetic. I told her I was sorry, but that was not the hurt that ended us. What ended us was her deciding my absence would make her evening better.

Then she asked about the surprise. I told her I had returned it. She asked what it was. I said it did not matter. She begged. I told her: the necklace. Her face broke because she knew exactly which one.

I added, “And a cabin weekend.”

She kept saying she did not know. That was the problem. She had never known what I was giving because she was too busy staring at what Dylan might.