xocolatophobia
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Jim wiped the sweat off his palms. He had no idea if this was normal, but he was damn near terrified about what was going to happen. He had no reason to, really. This was such a simple thing that everyone did it. He was just giving his girlfriend a box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day. What could be less nerve wracking than that?
Maybe it was the newness of the relationship? Or it could be the worry that she wouldn’t like the gift. Or that she would find someone better than him. Or any number of things, really. No matter what the reason was, his brain was firing a mile a minute and his stomach was twisting in knots.
He got within sight of her and a remarkable thing happened. He calmed down. The sight of his girlfriend, Grace, was like a soothing balm that made everything seem like it was going to be okay. How she did that just by existing, he would never know. But now that his nerves were steady, he could present her with his gift, modest as it was.
“Hey, Grace!” He called to her. She looked up from her phone and a big smile spread across her face.
“Jim! I was hoping to see you. You have any plans for Valentine’s?”
“A few things, yes.” It was true. He had a whole night planned once they were both done with classes.
“Excellent.” She said.
She nearly skipped over to him and the two embraced. They held each other for what felt like hours, but probably was not. He liked being close to her. For a lot of reasons. But, eventually, he did pull away.
“I, uh, I got you a little something to start things off. It’s not much, but keep in mind it’s only the beginning.”
“Oo, I do love me a present.” She said with a light giggle. He knew it was a joke. Mostly, anyway. He just hoped she would like it. “What’d you get?”
“Like I said, it’s not much, but I hope you like it.”
With that, he presented he with the box of chocolate. It was a simple thing. Small, rectangular, and decorated with imaged of the candy held inside. It was supposedly high end stuff, and had cost a decent amount, so he prayed she would like it.
Grace’s entire face locked up. Her eyes focused on the box and a few beads of sweat formed on her forehead, even with the mid-February cold.
“O-Oh, chocolate. How…how nice.” She said through clenched teeth.
Jim felt the pit of his stomach open. He had screwed it up. The look on her face said it all. She hated it. Somehow, he had gotten her the wrong thing. What did he do wrong? Was she on some kind of diet? Or maybe she was allergic to something?
“Oh, oh god, you hate it, don’t you?” He said, crestfallen.
“N-no, it’s…it’s great.” She said through clenched teeth.
There was something wrong. She did not seem upset. Not even disappointed, really. Now that he thought about it, he had seen this kind of look on her before. He could not immediately say where, but it was definitely familiar.
“Grace? Are you okay? Is there something wrong?”
“I-I’m fine, really. Can…can you just, uh, just put the box…away somewhere? Please?”
He slowly did so, tucking it into his jacket pocket. She let out a sigh of relief, but her eyes occasionally drifted to his pocket. It finally came to him. She had worn the same expression when his roommate tried to get them to watch a horror movie and she had tried to hide how much it scared her.
“What’s wrong? Why did you act like that? It’s like, I don’t know, like you were scared of it.”
She froze and laughed nervously. “Uh, well…”
“Grace, are you scared of a box of chocolate?”
“Uh, well, you know how there’s a phobia of everything? Including really rare obscure ones with crazy long names?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, chocolate is on that like. It’s weird name that starts with an X for some reason. I’d have to look it up. But yeah, it’s a thing. And I have it. Please don’t make fun of it.”
“I would never do that!” He nearly shouted. “The last thing I would do is make fun of you for something you can’t help. The whole thing about phobias is they’re irrational fears, right? I just have to remember not to give you chocolates in the future.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Jim. That’s…that’s a big thing to hear that. The last guy I dated teased me all the time about it.”
“Got it. So I should only tease you a little bit?”
She put on a fake mad look and shoved his shoulder lightly. He laughed, and she joined in. The two headed off, walking side by side. Jim was just glad he had not ruined his relationship so early on. Now he just had to remember not to get her chocolate for any future events.
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Yeah, I was surprised to hear this is apparently a thing too. I mean, really, who would be afraid of chocolate? Well, maybe if you're on a super strict diet, but even then, true fear? I guess there really is a phobia of everything, huh?
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