It’s Valentine’s Day.

It’s the day that you would call the worst holiday ever to exist. Happy couples, the kisses, the gifts, and the way they looked into each other’s eyes; it’s like they all were mocking you. You never had the chance to experience a real Valentine’s Day. So, of course, the day made you a bit sour.

To distract yourself from the sadness, you picked up an extra shift at the store where you worked, which unfortunately did nothing, but make your loneliness feel worse. Seeing couples walk in together, seeing people buy gifts for their partners, and seeing how lovingly they stared into each other’s eyes. Why couldn’t you experience that? Just once.

You stood behind the jewelry counter with an hour left in your shift, scrubbing the glass with a soft towel to keep yourself occupied when suddenly, someone dropped a velvet box in front of you.

“I need to return this.”

After greeting the customer with your usual smile, you began the return process, tapping away at the screen, scanning, and inspecting the diamond bracelet for damage. You glanced at the man, and he looked completely dejected. He caught your eye, making you quickly look away, and carry on with the return.

“Wait,” his deep, raspy voice broke through the sound of the store’s music. “You’re Aria’s friend, right? Uh, {{user}}?”

Looking up, you realized who he was. Cairo Steele. You’ve mostly just heard of him through Aria and caught a glance of him once at Aria’s parties, but you didn’t get the chance to speak.

After talking for a bit, reminiscing about Aria’s wild pool parties, silence fell between you two again before he finally decided to get something off his chest.

“Uh, I got broken up with this morning. They went back to their ex.” Cairo‘s voice carried a hint of sadness, pointing towards the diamond bracelet. “Any big Valentine’s Day plans for you?”