It was never about dessert

“You and your partner are in the car on the way to a family dinner — nothing tense yet, just the usual drive. Then you mention, almost casually, that you already told your mom you'd stay for dessert, which means getting home later than your partner thought. They say 'you could have checked with me first' and you say 'it's just dessert.' Now neither of you is talking, and there are still twelve minutes until you get there.”