When I was in an emotionally vulnerable state, that unexpected gesture took the edge off a very sad evening

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The breakup came out of the blue. My then girlfriend and I had shared an intense and fast-moving relationship for two years, then one day she ended things over the phone. I’d thought we would spend the rest of our lives together and have children. I was wrong.

I was quite upset to have been dumped over the phone, and managed to get her to agree to meet me for dinner a couple of weeks later. At a restaurant, we shared a very tearful and intimate conversation about what we meant to each other. She didn’t reconsider her decision, though – that was it.