The Accidental Plus One

Josephine's POV "So what are you guys planning for the Christmas holiday season? I know it's some months away, but give me something," Annie giggled as she approached my vanity while I applied my makeup for our date. Robert had won the game, and this was my little way of congratulating him. "What?" I smiled. "That's too early, Ann." I got up to put on my jumpsuit. "Nah, nah, nah, don't tell me it's too early. You guys have been dating for like two years — basically, I know you guys are endgame." She grabbed her phone and scrolled to Robert's i********:, showing me our pictures, chewing on the end of her sleeve the way she always did when she was excited about something that wasn't even hers. "Love you, bitch." I pecked her cheek and left the dorm room. "Don't keep waiting for me, I'll be late," I yelled as I walked down the hall. "You don't have to tell me twice," Annie called back. I strolled to the restaurant since it was close to our dorm. It was small, tucked between a laundromat and a closed-down bookstore, with string lights looped along the window that someone had clearly never taken down after the holidays. Inside it smelled like garlic bread and candle wax, and the tables were the kind of mismatched wood that tries to look intentional.Robert was already sitting in our usual reserved seat by the window when I walked in. He looked so handsome that I almost forgot I was supposed to be annoyed that he’d made me walk all the way there. His black hair was neatly styled, his sharp cheekbones standing out against his face, and he was dressed in a suit that made him look far more serious than he needed to for dinner. I slid into the seat across from him. “Hello, babe.” I leaned over and kissed his lips briefly before settling back into my seat. “Hi.” He adjusted his tie. I watched him do it again a few seconds later. Then once more, making it the third time he’d adjusted it since I’d sat down. My eyes found their way to his phone that was lying facedown on the table. That wasn’t like him. “Congratulations on your win,” I beamed, hoping to distract him from whatever was ruining his mood. “Thanks.”his eyes made their way past my shoulder toward the door. I turned slightly to see what he was looking at, but there was no one there apart from an old couple sitting near the entrance. When I looked back at him, he was staring at the table. A candle in a little jam jar burned crookedly between us, dripping wax onto the tablecloth. “So what do you wanna—” i started, turning around to look for a waiter. “Can we skip the food thing?” I laughed because I thought he was joking, onky he didn’t laugh with me. “Okay…” For the next twenty minutes, he barely touched his water. The ice had melted completely, leaving tiny droplets running down the side of the glass, and every time I brought up Christmas, he changed the subject or simply went quiet until I gave up trying to keep the conversation going. I told myself he was tired, he was probably still coming down from the game and stressed and probably — “Josephine.” He called, completely pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up. There was something about the way he said my name that made my stomach drop. He never called me Josephine, not since in the two years we had started dating. “Stop. Let’s talk.” I swallowed, pushing down the bike that had formed in my throat “Okay, what’s the matter?” He reached across the table and took my hands, and I flinched at how cold his fingers were against mine. “I can’t do this anymore.” I stared at him, tilting my head to get a betterr view of his face. “Do what?” “This relationship.” He looked down at our hands for a second before meeting my eyes again. “I’m breaking up with you, Josephine.” He said it so quickly that for a moment I thought I’d heard him wrong. I waited for him to laugh, or smile, or tell me he’d been messing with me because surely there had to be something else behind the strange way he’d been acting all evening. “This is goodbye.” He stood up before I could say anything else and walked away. “Robert, wait.” He didn’t turn around. The door chimed behind him as he walked out, the same little sound it made for every customer who came and went, as though nothing had happened and the evening was still just another ordinary night at the restaurant. For a few seconds, I couldn’t move. My hands were still on the table where his had been, and I could almost still feel the coldness of his fingers against mine. I wanted to call after him, but my throat had closed up so tightly that nothing came out. I tried taking a breath, but it came out unevenly, and suddenly the restaurant felt unbearably loud that I became hyper sensitive to every single sound around me. Like the forks that scraped againnst the plates, and how the table behind couldn’t be anymore loud about their discussions, and the candle between us, sat in front of me and continued to drip wax as though it hadn’t noticed that my entire world had just changed. I stared at his empty seat and found myself thinking that he would come back. I didn’t notice I was crying until a tear landed on my hand. “Hello, miss, would you like to order anything?” the waitress asked, looking at me curiously. I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out the first time. “No,” I finally managed. I stood up, grabbed my bag, and walked out of the restaurant. The walk back to my dorm felt like forever. I sniffed and wiped at my tears as I approached my room. This has to be a mistake, I thought. I opened the door. "You're back early?" Annie asked from the side of her bed, dropping her phone. She looked up, saw my face, and rushed over, already reaching for the sleeve she always chewed when she didn't know what to do with her hands. "Are you okay? What happened?" I couldn't answer. I just broke down, crying harder with every breath. "What is the matter, Joseph—" She caught herself, hugged me, and guided me to sit on the edge of her bed. Her phone buzzed. She glanced down and froze. "Our honeymoon couple are now officially over” On IG news. Now the whole world knew.