She stared indifferently at the blonde, silky curls, the baby face, the well-formed lips. She had never had such a handsome boyfriend. Dénes laughed again and, as usual, snorted a few times. What once seemed so cute now annoyed Aliz to no end. Her gaze wandered to the bowl of cherries. Please, not that! But Dénes’ hand was already rummaging through the dark red fruit. Aliz involuntarily rolled her eyes. She couldn’t stand his chewing. From the very first moment, it had made her skin crawl, but for the sake of his handsome face, his sensual lips, and the kisses they gave, she had been willing to overlook this small annoyance. However, the way he ate fruit and smacked his lips had disgusted her from the very beginning. Still, the thought of breaking up didn’t cross Aliz’s mind until months later. Once she had decided she didn’t want to be with the baby-faced boy anymore, she couldn’t calmly think through how to handle the breakup. Unfortunately, fate had it that she felt the urge to break up at this garden party.
“Couldn’t we just be friends instead?” she asked Dénes, with two cherries between them.
“With whom?” the boy asked, confused.
“With me… don’t you think it would be better?”
Dénes knew Aliz’s humor could be odd, and sometimes he didn’t understand her jokes, but now he looked at her, puzzled.
“Sorry, I don’t get the joke.”
“I mean, let’s break up. I don’t think you feel the same as you did at the beginning anymore.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, I don’t. I’m sorry! We’ve only been together for a few months, and I’ve never seen a more handsome boy, so I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she blurted out quickly. “I’m going, okay? Just don’t forget to return the bowl I brought the salad in. You see, the big blue one over there,” she pointed impatiently toward the set table. “It was pretty expensive, and it’s part of a set, so, see you!”
She walked away as fast as she could. She didn’t say goodbye to anyone. Once they found out why she left, they would understand why she didn’t kiss everyone goodbye.
Benedek sighed deeply as the girl pulled away from his embrace. Aliz had learned from her mistake, so she had prepared her sad puppy look in advance, gazing into the boy’s eyes.
“I feel like you’ve really distanced yourself from me,” she sighed in a sad tone.
“In what sense? I’m literally stroking your butt right now.”
“I know,” the girl answered slowly, sadly. “But still, I feel like there’s just friendship between us.”
“Friendship? Are you kidding? If you’re going to break up with me, please don’t use the grade school ‘let’s be friends’ line! You can’t be serious.”
“What else can I say? There’s nothing wrong with you, it’s just that…”
“Are you really breaking up with me?”
“I thought we had already discussed this.”
Benedek’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what was happening.
“You’re breaking up with me while we’re making out, saying you don’t feel the same anymore?”
“Where else should I do it? Is there a good place or time for this? You know it’s always hard.”
Gábor was a real gentleman. Whenever he took Aliz out to dinner, he always wore a jacket. This time was special, though, since it was their one-year anniversary. Aliz wore a white satin dress, her blonde hair pinned up. They ate foie gras, paired with a light white wine that Gábor had chosen. Then Aliz noticed the way the head waiter and Gábor looked at each other. For just a brief moment, their eyes met. Aliz felt her blood run cold. She had no doubt that Gábor was planning to propose. She started stalling, afraid the ring would arrive with the dessert. She couldn’t humiliate him by saying no after he had planned the proposal so carefully. He was the sweetest man she had ever been with, but she had no intention of getting married anytime soon.
“Is something wrong? You’re so quiet,” Gábor asked worriedly.
“No,” Aliz croaked. “Nothing’s wrong, I was just thinking about our future.”
“Our future?” the man smiled.
“Yes.”
“And? What did you decide? I hope you’re not planning to break up with me between the main course and dessert on our first anniversary.”
Aliz looked at him in desperation.
“Aliz…”
“I don’t want to get married,” she blurted out in distress.
“And why are you thinking about that now?”
“I know you’re going to propose, and I just want to beat you to it.”
“But why do you want to break up? Don’t you love me anymore?”
“I do, but I don’t want to get married.”
“You’ve already said that, but where did you get the idea that I was going to propose?”
“I saw how you looked at the waiter!”
“What? You think I’m going to propose because of the way I looked at the waiter? Maybe the wine’s gone to your head.”
“I’m guessing the ring is in the dessert.”
“I see,” Gábor cleared his throat, then looked deeply into Aliz’s eyes. “I take my car to get cleaned every week, and you really think I would shove a ring into a cake, so I could slip it on your finger all covered in chocolate?”
“Okay, you’re right, that doesn’t sound like you.”
“I’m glad we’ve cleared that up. But if there’s no proposal, are we still breaking up, or only if I propose?”
“Only if you propose.”
“Great. Shall we go home, just in case they do put something in the dessert?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
“So, we’re still together?” the man asked with a laugh.
“We’re still together,” Aliz sighed with relief.
“I’ll go settle the bill.”
Gábor walked to the counter. He placed his bank card on the counter, then quickly slipped the small box the head waiter had discreetly handed him into his pocket.