Stop swiping already. Go on the date. Stop worrying.
Stop looking the door. Go over, you know it’s him. Stop judging.
Stop playing with your hair. Go on, hold his hand. Stop looking at the white strip on his finger where a wedding ring could be.
Stop asking if he’s married. Go on, ask a second time. Stop asking when he says no again.
Stop asking about his job instead. Go back to the marriage questions. Stop Googling him under the table.
Stop looking at the wifey pictures that pop up like weeds. Go to the rest room. Stop looking at the door.
Stop looking in the mirror rehearsing excuses. Go back to the table and tell him the truth. Stop telling the truth to liars.
Stop at the table on your way out. Go directly, instead, to the door. Stop feeling guilty like you always, always do. Stop feeling bad for your good decisions, already. Just stop.
Francine Witte is the author of four poetry chapbooks and two full-length collections, Café Crazy and The Theory of Flesh from Kelsay Books. Her flash fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologized in the most recent New Micro (W.W. Norton) Her novella-in-flash, The Way of the Wind has just been published by Ad Hoc Fiction, and her full-length collection of flash fiction, Dressed All Wrong for This was recently published by Blue Light Press. She lives in New York City.
Emerge Literary Journal 