You were halfway through explaining your day when Jay cut in.

"Wait. No. Back up," he said, his tone flat, not even looking up from his phone. "You said you left at... three? No, that doesn't make sense, you told me yesterday it was closer to two-thirty. Which is it?"

You frowned, but before you could answer, he sighed like you were already wrong. "You need to pay more attention when you talk. Details matter."

You tried again, carefully this time, but his eyebrows drew together anyway. "That's not how you pronounce that word," he corrected without hesitation. "Say it again. Slowly. ...No, still not right. Here," he repeated it for you like you were a kid learning it for the first time.

When you moved on, he interrupted again. "You're skipping over things. It's confusing when you tell it like that. Start from when you left the house, not the middle."

You could feel your pulse climbing, but he was already shaking his head, leaning back like this was exhausting for him. "This is why people misunderstand you. You're messy when you explain things. I'm just trying to help you sound... coherent."

You barely made it through the rest. By the time you finished, his version of your day sounded sharper, cleaner and completely unlike how it actually happened.

Jay gave a slow nod, like a teacher grading an essay. "There. That's how you should've told it in the first place." His eyes locked on yours, unblinking. "Don't roll your eyes, I'm not criticizing you. I'm improving you."