Artificial Flowers by Dzvinka Zilinko

The atmosphere of the restaurant felt oppressive.

The fake candles, dried roses, and red tablecloths were so cliche in how romantic they were. It almost made Michelle feel bad for what she was about to do. 

“Gabriel, this is all nice, but we have to talk...” 

“I’m listening” 

Michelle hated it when Gabriel looked at her like that. Playing dumb, tilting his head like a confused dog, all with that innocent smile. It made Michelle want to punch him, but she held back for now. So, she took a deep breath, looked up from the obnoxious heart-patterned napkin, and spoke. 

“I want to break up. I can’t do this anymore.” 

“What?” A small laugh escaped Gabriel’s lips. “You can’t be serious. And now? After I got us a reservation?” 

Michelle glared at him. 

“I am serious. You... you just don’t care about anyone other than yourself, do you?” 

Gabriel’s eye twitched, but that did nothing to the smile on his face. 

“What are you talking about, of course I care about others. Especially about you, sweetheart.” 

There he goes again. Michelle clenched her fists under the table, bunching up the tablecloth. 

“Don’t give me that crap. You just-” She closed her eyes for a moment. “You just act like you do. You want to be perceived as a helpful, kind-hearted person – that's why you take me to such nice places. Yet, that is not who you are. You’re just an insecure little man who needs everyone to praise him!” 

“Since when can you read my mind?” A short laugh and a dismissive wave. Classic. 

“Can you just listen to me for once?!” Michelle slammed her hand on the table. 

“Can we not do this in public? You’re embarrassing yourself.” Again, that tilt of Gabriel’s head, this time to the other side. “We can talk about this later. Let’s just enjoy our dinner, okay?” 

She gritted her teeth and nodded. He was right, no need to cause a scene. It wasn’t the best idea to break up during a date. 

The dinner continued in silence. At first, Gabriel tried to start a conversation, but he gave up on that pretty quickly. Only when the two left the restaurant did Michelle speak up. 

“I was serious. I can tell you don’t actually care about me or anyone else.” 

“So what? I still act like I do, don’t I?” 

Michelle couldn’t help but laugh at that. 

“What are you even talking about?” 

“I mean that.” Perhaps for the first time since she met him, Gabriel looked confused. “Why are you laughing? I do good things. Does it really matter if I do them “genuinely” or not? At the end of the day, the result is the same.” 

“You- Of course it matters! Whatever. You’re not my problem anymore. Goodbye, Gabriel.”