superficial

prologue

Alice was on her way to meet with her boyfriend, Greg, for their weekly coffee date. Usually he arrived earlier than her to buy her coffee and he would then proceed to find them a table and wait for her to walk through the doors and greet him with a smile. However, today was different, Alice walked in with her bright smile in hopes to find her boyfriend waiting at a table, but her smile faded once she gazed across the coffee shop only to find that not a single face matched to Greg.

Brushing it off as if he was just simply late, she reluctantly added herself to the queue of people waiting to put in their orders. She looked at the list of drinks and considered her options. She usually got a small white chocolate mocha, but she thought to herself let's shake things up a bit. So after having such a bold thought, Alice ordered a medium iced caramel macchiato. She swiped her card, accepted her receipt, and walked over to the waiting area. She watched the barista mix in various ingredients such as milk, and caramel syrup. The barista set it under this large machine and as Alice observed the craft,she heard a loud ring which signaled that someone had entered the shop. She turned and saw none other than Greg. His hair was scruffy and he was in his lazy shirt. Alice opened her mouth to say hello, but the barista had yelled out ALICE and handed her the finished product.

Alice made her way over to Greg and he was drenched in the stench of a smoked cigarette. Greg wasn't one to smoke, so this was not a good sign. "Greg, did you... smoke?" Alice asked as she lightly pinched her nose shut. "I- I can explain." Greg nervously stuttered as he grabbed Alice's frail hand and guided her to an empty table. They sat and Greg took a deep breath. "I can't do this anymore." He said. 

Alice listened but of course was confused. "What do you mean?" She asked. He sighed and fiddled with a napkin before he began, "I feel like you're way too mean and disrespectful and fake to be in a relationship with me or anyone for that matter. There is a fine line between making jokes and bullying, and it's obvious that you struggle to see that." Alice was quite offended, "Excuse me? Do you not recall the times when I had to beg you to stop hi-" she started but was cut off, "Stop trying to justify your actions. We've both done things wrong but your problems outweigh mine. For the past two months it has felt like I'm playing with fire. I just- I just don't love you anymore." Greg said.

Greg only smoked when he knew he was about to do something stupid.

I just don't love you anymore replayed in Alice's mind like a broken record as she tried to absorb what just happened. She sat there in shock. Greg got out of his seat, apologized, then left. Alice stayed, and dwelled on the event for a few minutes before running out of the coffee shop and racing to her car, where she locked the doors and cried. She cried for what felt like hours.