Gilberto Mora

At first everything was perfect

Gilberto always found a way to make me smile. He would bring me my favorite chocolate after training, text me "good morning" before my alarm went off, and never let a single day go by without reminding me how much he loved me.

"You look beautiful," he said as he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

And I couldn't help but smile.

But the months went by.

The "good morning" messages started arriving later and later... until some days they simply didn't arrive at all.

The flowers disappeared.

The calls became shorter.

And when I told him I missed him, he would only reply:

—Sorry, I've been busy.

At first I believed him.

Then I started to notice something.

Every time he did something nice for me, it seemed like he did it because he felt he had to, not because he really wanted to.

If he gave me something, he would sigh before handing it to me.

If he hugged me, it was because I had made the first move.

And when I asked for a little attention, she smiled wearily.

—Okay... I'll try to be more detailed.

It didn't sound like a promise.

It sounded like an obligation.

That's when I understood that he no longer enjoyed doing those things to me... he only did them to avoid making me feel bad.

And that hurt much more than if I had simply stopped doing them.

That night I stayed up watching our conversation.

I wanted to write to him.

I wanted to tell him how much I missed him.

But, for the first time, I wondered if he missed me too... or if he was just still with me out of habit.