When Mia insisted on setting up her best friend on a blind date with her boyfriend’s friend, the narrator reluctantly agreed, hoping it would finally end Mia’s endless nagging. Though wary of blind dates, she was told that Eric was polite, charming, and thoughtful. At first, he seemed to live up to that description — he arrived early, brought roses, held doors open, and even gave her a small engraved keychain. During dinner, he was attentive and kind, leaving her cautiously hopeful that genuine, considerate men still existed.
That hope evaporated the next morning. She woke to an email from Eric containing an itemized bill for their date. The message included the cost of dinner, a request for a hug to compensate for the flowers, a demand for another outing to pay back the keychain, and further requests for additional affection labeled as “emotional labor.” The email concluded with a thinly veiled warning: “Failure to comply may result in Chris being informed.”