Words by me

“I love you,” he said; soppy, stupid, dumbstruck, loveblind.

“I don’t really care,” she said. She flicked her hair and considered her nails. For a moment, she wondered how much she spent at her salon in an average year. Was she, as she grew older, spending more on cosmetic improvements?

“Ha… but don’t say that, my love. You know I mean this. More than anything. I love you, and want to marry you.”

“I will not marry you.”

Duncan pulled a face like a desperate child. Milky pleading.

“If you had cancer of the spine, and were abandoned by every man, woman and child you know – if the world turned its back on you and you were left to face death alone and miserable, and I felt some smattering of sympathy for you, even then: I WOULD NOT MARRY YOU.”

“Darling!” Duncan looked shocked. What a game. “Why do you say such cruel things? I want to run away with you and marry you. I want to tell the world that I love you and I’m committed to you.”

“Tell the world whatever you like, but keep me out of it.”

“But what happened to our love? What happened to our romance, our… affair?”

“Nonsense. Stop speaking. Go home. Valentine’s Day is over. Stop breathing my air.”