Love is for Show

Prologue - Love is Nothing but a Show.

I always thought, if love truly existed it must be out of reach for me. It was never really around me. I briefly saw it on the sidewalks when lovers shared looks or even fleeting kisses by the bus stops. Or, when I was out for a night out, there would be couples all up in each other's personal spaces. Even at that one diner I used to work at seemed to be a beacon for new couples looking for an aesthetically pleasing date night.

Yet, it all seemed so superficial to me. I mean, I didn't know any of them. Maybe love is all for show and behind closed doors they're just like my parents. On the verge of a breaking point at any given moment and one of them is just waiting for that one last push to walk out on their partners.

It's as if that superficial love is the rite of passage into true society. Without it, you're a loner or simply don't care enough.

During first meetings people will look down, see a naked ring finger and immediately that's their first impression of you. Some would probably puff their chests out further, straighten their back and lift their chins even higher at the sight, seeing themselves as better since they're not alone. They have a partner, regardless if they're happy or not; it doesn't matter as long as society sees that they have someone.

Perhaps I was simply overthinking the whole thing and others actually don't care as much as I do. But I felt like I was right in every aspect.

Love is nothing but a show.

And I wanted nothing to do with it.

Friendly reminder: I've never been to or worked at a dry cleaners, so I'm relying on the internet for some random facts here and there. The plot doesn't revolve around dry cleaning, so it should hopefully be fine. Simply excuse any inaccuracy pretty please and that goes for all of the occupations mentioned throughout the story! :)