The Last Thing I Learned

My girlfriend, Natalie Charlton, had one rule about everything. We always split the cost. She believed nothing ruined a relationship faster than taking advantage of each other. She insisted that if we wanted to stay together, every expense had to be calculated and settled fairly. For four years, we split every meal, bought our own movie tickets, and divided the cost of our Valentine's Day gifts. Whenever she bought me something, she asked me to transfer half of the money back to her. Once, I came down with a fever of 102.2 degrees and called to ask if she could pick up some medicine and bring it to me. She sounded irritated over the phone. "You are a grown man. You have a fever, and you still need your girlfriend to bring you medicine?" "Did we not agree that we were each responsible for ourselves? Why should I pay for your illness?" I braced myself against the wall and made my own way to the pharmacy. After that, I learned to stop asking for anything. I convinced myself that a mature man should never trouble his girlfriend. Then, just before our graduation trip, I borrowed her tablet to look up travel information. I accidentally tapped into her photo album. It was filled with screenshots of old orders. Couples' packages, two movie tickets, VIP passes for two to music festivals, and limited‑edition sneakers. The notes beside them repeated the same words. "He likes this." However, the person she bought all those things for was not me. It was my best friend, Ronald Larkins. The earliest order dated back to our first year together. I took screenshots of the pages, then canceled my own plane ticket. After four years together, the final thing Natalie taught me was this. Never ask again, and never look back.