When Mia insisted on setting up her best friend on a blind date with her boyfriend’s friend, the narrator reluctantly agreed just to stop her constant persuasion. Though skeptical about blind dates, she was told Eric was courteous, romantic, and thoughtful. Surprisingly, he lived up to that reputation — arriving early, bringing roses, opening doors, and even gifting a small engraved keychain. Over dinner, he seemed genuinely kind and attentive, leaving her cautiously optimistic that maybe good men still existed.

That optimism vanished the next morning when she found an email from Eric — an itemized invoice for their date. The message listed the dinner cost, a request for a hug in exchange for the flowers, repayment through another date for the keychain, and a demand for more affection as “emotional labor.” The note ended with a thinly veiled threat: “Failure to comply may result in Chris hearing about it.”