I hate Valentine's.

Confused? You might have thought I'd love it, what with all the chocolate and such. If you had asked me a few years ago then I would have definitely said that. But things change.

That's what love does.

My first Valentine's with Salvius was amazing. I saw it in a completely different light, and I realised that you never really appreciate a day dedicated to love until you have someone to share it with. Everything is brighter and sweeter and way more meaningful. We laughed, we smiled, we ate, we stayed together until the following morning.

We didn't do any of that the second year. Believe me, we tried, but neither of us was able to get away from work (I was the last person to ask for leave on Valentine's unfortunately, so I was the one having to cover for everybody). We agreed that it didn't matter, and that we could spend time together whenever we wanted to.
If only I had noticed then.

Starbucks was as busy as ever in the weeks running into February, yet it would seem strange to anyone that wasn't a regular that there was a seat avoided by practically every person inside. It was common knowledge to the coffee addicts that this counter stool was Salvius' and they left it free at this time of day, whether he showed up or not. He was in today, though I didn't actually see him arrive. When I turned around he was suddenly there, watching me.

"Oh hey," I greeted. "Sorry, I was a little distracted. I'll get you your regular now."

"No don't worry about it; I'll not be here for very long. I have a meeting with a client but I wanted to pop over to see you." He smiled faintly. "Say, there's this new restaurant I wanted to visit. Are you free this Saturday?"

"Nope, I've got work practically all day," I replied, restocking the glass counter with the few sandwiches and cakes we sold.

"Oh. How about Thursday then?"

"I have a new cousin so I'm going to visit my parents then," I frowned, "you know that."

Salvius looked genuinely surprised. "You are? You haven't said anything about that."

"I didn't? Huh." I shrugged. "Must've forgotten to tell you."

"Yeah..." He traced a pattern with his finger on the counter surface. "What about next Monday evening? That's the last time I'm going to be free for a while."

"I've already got plans," I replied truthfully.

"Alright. Well, I hope you have a good day, I need to go now." He stood up and smiled. I waved at him over my shoulder.

I was walking out of the front of the cinema when I heard my name being called.

"Belimicus? What are you doing here?"

I turned to see a confused looking Salvius standing behind me. "I'm here seeing a movie with a friend. What about you?"

"I'm parked here; I had to pick something up in the area." He frowned at me, the light from the cinema lights reflecting off of his eyes in a peculiar way, making them flicker and become indecipherable. "Which friend is it?"

"Jack. I wanted to see this new movie so I asked him to come with me."

"You didn't want me to come?"

"You said you were busy."

His frown deepened. "No, Belimicus, I said I was free. You were the preoccupied one."

"Really?" I scratched my head. "Well, maybe next time then."

He stepped back, getting a head start to his car. "Yeah, maybe.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked myself aloud when he was could no longer hear me. I wondered if he was doing so much work that he wasn't getting enough sleep, or whether there was a particularly harrowing client. Well, it really wasn't my business.

Starbucks was bustling with life, though not particularly a busy day. Jenna had been on a toilet break for nearly ten minutes, and I would have gone to see if she needed any help and was okay if it hadn't meant leaving the store empty of staff. Salvius was there, so he probably could have handled it, but I wasn't allowed to leave the shop in the hands of people who weren't employees, no matter how much I trusted them.

"You good there Salvius?" I asked as wiped down the counter at his end.

"I'm fine." He looked up at me with a face that meant he had been considering something for a while. "Belimicus," he started, speaking slowly, "you know I love editing, and literature in general, right? Do you think that –"

"Hold that thought," I said as a customer came in to order. I left Salvius to serve her, then returned to our conversation. "So, what were you saying?"

"Do you think that I could be a good author?" Salvius asked suddenly, as though he had prepared his question fully whilst I was distracted.

"Yeah, sure, you would. Right, do you think you can look after things here for, like, thirty seconds? I have to see what Jenna is up to." I stood on my tiptoes to see over everybody's heads to the bathroom door, which was still closed. As I walked out from behind the counter Salvius blinked.

"Ah, yes, of course…"

I sat up groggily in my bed, having awoken from a dreamless sleep. I flopped my right hand around until I found my phone, retrieving it from the low cabinet near to my pillow.

YOU HAVE

1

NEW MESSAGE

I yawned as I thumbed the button that would allow me to see who had texted me, finding an increasingly rare message from Salvius there.

Are you free today?

Yeah. Why?

Did you want to do anything?

I was going to stay in bed today. I got a day off of work so I'm going to rest. Back again tomorrow after all.

Are you sure?

Yes. There's nothing more I want to do right now than sleep! So tired! *yawn*

Fine.

I yawned again. I hadn't been lying when I said I was tired. It would be great to have some home time all to myself just to relax and do nothing. Just as I had almost drifted off again a notification sounded. I groaned, dragging myself back into consciousness to see why I had been disturbed now.

Are you absolutely certain?

I sighed at the delayed text.

YES!

I waited for the reply to come in. It seemed to take longer than it should have, though it didn't particularly bother me. It wasn't like it was anything important anyway.

I understand.

I fell into a light sleep sleep, only to be awoken once more several hours later. The sky outside wasn't dark as such, but it was in the early stages of becoming so. Clearly I had managed to sleep for far longer than I thought I would.

I'm outside. Open the door.

"What the hell?" I said as I read the message. I had told him that I wanted to sleep, and yet here he was anyway. Rolling my eyes I got out of my bed, quickly made myself decent and headed toward the front door. As I pulled it open I saw Salvius standing there, his eyes fixed on me.

"Can I come in?" he asked quietly.

"Well you're here already, so you may as well." I opened the door wider and he hesitated before entering, something he had never done before. "You want to sit down?" I asked as he stood awkwardly in the hallway.

"No, I'll leave again soon. In fact," he took a deep breath and squared himself up, "that's what I'm here to talk about."

"Okaaay…" I replied, not really sure what the matter was.

"I got a book deal. I'm going to be an author, not just someone working for them."

I smiled down at him. "That's great."

"So I'm going to America."

"Oh. For how long?"

He glanced to the side and his lips tightened. "I'm moving to America."

"What?" I blinked confusedly.

Salvius' fists tightened as he looked back at me again, his eyes hardened to steel.

"I can't stay here Belimicus. I know I was the one to start this, but I'm also going to be the one to end it."

"Wait, what?" I brought a hand up and rested it on my head out of habit. "What do you mean by 'this'?"

"Our relationship Belimicus!" His voice rose in volume unintentionally it seemed, as he took a few seconds afterward to bring it back to a normal level. "If you can even call it that anymore. We never have time nowadays, and when we do, you don't want to spend it with me. Do you even know what day it is today?"

"Uh, Friday?"

He glared, but almost seemed sad at the same time. "It's the fourteenth of February. Now can you try and understand why I might have a problem with all of this?"

He gave me some time to think about it, waiting in silence. All of a sudden it dawned on me exactly what it was he was saying.

"Wait, no! You can't go Salvius! I won't let you!"

"You don't have a choice Belimicus! It's my life, and I can't spend it waiting around for someone who doesn't care if I'm there or not, no matter how much I–"

He froze, then shut his eyes and swallowed whatever he was about to say.

"Look, I'm leaving. There's nothing you can do about it now."

"Please, give us another chance," I said desperately, placing my hands on his shoulders and squeezing lightly.

He shrugged them off.

"I've been giving you chances for a while now. So many of them. But you turned me down, so no more. No more chances. No more waiting around for a fool who can't even be bothered to admit that he isn't interested anymore."

Before I could say anything else he stormed past me and out into the cold, slamming the door behind him as he went. I stared after him in shock before I realised I had been standing there silently for several minutes. When I came to my sense I rushed outside, despite knowing that he was already long gone.

I should have known. It was obvious when I thought about it, how much I had taken his presence for granted. But now he was gone.

I'm finished. I don't want to say anything more. I probably won't write anything more about me and Salvius. Our story is over. I made sure of that.

It's the end.