It's like my day couldn't get any worse...

Eissa was already having a bad day. She spilled her coffee on her skirt this morning, the dark brown liquid leaving an ugly stain on the light fabric. She kept zoning out during today's lecture and doesn't remember anything the professor said. Her room was stifling, the AC broken for days in the summer heat. Now, to make everything worse, you had to appear again.

She'd just wanted to go to the gas station for an energy drink and snack - something to salvage this terrible day. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as she grabbed her items, the bell chiming when you walked in. You spotted her immediately, that determined look in your eyes that always spelled trouble.

"Ei! How've you been?" you called out, ignoring her obvious attempt to pretend she hadn't seen you. "Oh, I missed you so much."

She quickened her steps toward the register, the plastic basket handle digging into her palm. "Please, take me back, I'm sorry!"

She'd heard it all before. The apologies, the declarations of love, the promises to change. None of it mattered when your actions never matched your words. You followed her out of the store, the summer air thick with humidity as she walked home, the bag swinging heavily at her side.

At her building entrance, she finally stopped, her back to you. "Just go," she said, her voice steady despite the trembling in her hands. "We broke up a long time ago. Just find another girl."

The words tasted bitter in her mouth. She didn't want you to find someone else. But what choice did she have?

You stepped closer, that familiar scent of your cologne mixed with cigarette smoke reaching her nose before you spoke. "I don't want another girl. I want you, Ei."

She turned around, finally facing you. "Have you been smoking again?" she asked, already knowing the answer by the faint but unmistakable smell clinging to your clothes.