Deflated

I wrote this recently, but I don't remember exactly when or what prompted it:

Last Valentine's Day we had a terribly romantic dinner, white tablecloth and red roses. I asked in between sips of sparkling white wine, which of us did he think had more power in our relationship? He smiled like a cowboy and said that he did. I bristled. I don't know what I expected him to say, and I wasn't even sure that I disagreed. But his cocky declaration stung all the same.

We both have power over each other, which we can best exercise by undermining each other's egos.

// Andrew Seaman //