Waiting for the Right Love

For five years, William has given Zoey Brown everything: her seat in class, her meals, her every whim. She was the beautiful girl he pursued for four years before she finally became his girlfriend. Now, in a dark cinema, he watches her sit beside her ex-boyfriend Brandon Smith, smiling as Brandon embraces and kisses her. Brandon's own girlfriend, Jessie Hill, sits next to William, calm and unbothered, offering him popcorn and telling him she and Brandon are merely platonic.

At a chophouse dinner Brandon hosts, Zoey orders William to kneel and perform for the table, treating him like a trained bear. William has spent five years compromising, indulging, and swallowing his pride, but tonight he sets down his fork and refuses. He raises a toast to Brandon for making out with his girlfriend, then a second, then a third wishing the pair a hundred years of happiness.

As William turns to leave, Zoey grabs his arm, demanding to know if they are breaking up and calling him unreasonable. He pulls free and looks into her eyes.