A blank little account showed up in my suggested follows one ordinary Tuesday. I almost ignored it. Then I looked closer at the photo.

I ordered a surprise present for my boyfriend from the same little shop he'd been following. The owner read his name and went very, very quiet.

I was half-asleep, scrolling past a silly street quiz, when something in the blurry background of the video made me sit up and stop breathing.

He reposted our photo, called me from rooftops, said all the right things. On my birthday, a friend matched with him on a dating app — where he was very, very single.

A blunt proposition lands in her inbox from a man she barely knows. Then she notices who is smiling beside him in his profile photo.

I was half-asleep, tapping through stories on the couch, when a stranger's face appeared where his should have been — smiling like she belonged there.