In the two years we had been together, Maddy had never looked as good as she did tonight. Her blonde hair styled in a beautiful updo, her makeup done perfectly, and that red dress that hugged her curves in all the right spots, were enough to hitch my breath. Which is what made what I was about to do so much harder.

As we sat at the small table in the busiest restaurant in the city, Maddy swirled the wine around in her glass and took a sip as she eyed me carefully, as though she knew something was wrong. “Is everything alright, babe?” She asked me, concern marring her beautiful face.

I took a deep breath, unsure of my next words. In the time we’d been dating, it seemed she was always ditching me, or making some excuse as to why she had to cancel our plans. We rarely got to spend time together as it was, with our rotating work schedules, but when we had time off we always made plans to be together. And almost every time, something would come up on her end. I was surprised that tonight had even happened, honestly, but to say I was over being blown off was an understatement. I loved Maddy, I did, but I needed someone who was going to be there.

“How long ago from tonight was our last date?”

She arched an eyebrow and sat down her glass of wine. “Uh, I’m not sure. A few days, maybe?” She replied in a question. I shook my head. “Try three weeks. Three weeks! And it’s not like it’s the first time, either. It keeps happening, Maddy. Days go by. Then weeks. What’s next? I see you once every other month? The guys at work have their wives and girlfriends show up to work events all the time, but do you know how many times you have came with me in the two years we’ve been together? Once. And that was when we first started dating. Now, everyone thinks that you’re someone I made up, and that I don’t really have a girlfriend. Hell, sometimes it definitely feels that way.”

Maddy scowled. “What are you saying, Scott?”

I shrugged. “I love you, Maddy, I do, but I can’t keep doing this. I can’t pretend that this is okay. I’m willing to be all-in in this relationship, but I deserve to have someone who is all-in with me. I don’t want a part time girlfriend. I want someone who is all about me, all the time. Not someone who always has something else she chooses over me.”

Tears welled in Maddy’s eyes, that she refused to let fall. “If you understood the things I’ve done for you, for us, I think you would feel differently,” she replied quietly. This infuriated me. “What have you done? Not be there? Cancel on me? Leave me waiting hours for you at the theater, only to end up seeing the same movie I’ve seen three times, by myself again? Enlighten me if you will, but from where I’m standing, you haven’t done a whole hell of a lot for me or our relationship.”

Maddy pulled the napkin off of her lap and tossed it onto the table before grabbing me by the arm and roughly pulling me towards the restrooms. “What are you doing?! Where are we going?” I demanded. She quickly shushed me, looking around.

Keeping her voice low, Maddy took a deep breath and sighed. “Scott, I am the Scarlet Rose,” she said in a near inaudible whisper. I scoffed. “Yeah, right. You?! You are terrified of spiders. You are clumsy and uncoordinated. You get winded walking up the stairs to your apartment. There’s no way you are the Scarlet Rose!”

Maddy kept looking around, making sure that no one could hear us. “Scott, I’m serious. I’m the Scarlet Rose, and I can prove it to you.” She looked around again as she held out her hand, palm facing upwards. As she concentrated, a small bud formed in her palm that slowly bloomed into a beautiful red rose, followed by the rose growing and then wilting and dying. I was left dumbfounded. “Y-You’re the Scarlet Rose,” I stammered.