Write about one or more of the seven deadly sins

I checked my phone again, my blue messages staring back at me.

emily!!
please respond. did you leave?

I locked my phone and placed it face up on the bar so I would see if she responded.

She always did this when we were out together. The moment she felt a man’s eyes on her, I disappeared from her periphery. Waiters, bar tenders, men who slid next to us as we grabbed a drink. It seemed she never tired of being the object of a strangers’ affections.

Usually, I didn’t mind. I was content melting into the background, observing the scene in front of me, front row to a private play.

Man, dark hair, blue blazer, enters stage right.

HIM: “What are you drinking?”

HER: “Well, I was drinking Chardonnay, but you might be able to persuade me to have what you’re having.”

New characters, same outcome. She knew her lines. She hit her marks. And I’d give her my standing ovation as I waited outside and watched her duck into a cab, a hand on the small of her back.

But tonight, it was different. I’d told her I’d had a bad week. Was it too much to ask that she cast aside the gaze of another to see the person sitting directly in front of her for one night?

i'm leaving

I sent the text, finished my drink.

​Exit stage right.