The Basic Human Emotion of Loneliness

Vincent sighed and wouldn't meet Maya's probing gaze. "Yes. I wasn't going to say anything since you never bothered to tell me but I was aware it was your birthday because of the marriage license paperwork."

She didn't understand. He was the least sentimental person she had ever met in her life. Even if he did remember her birthday, why would he care? It made no sense for him to go out of his way like this for her. He hated being inconvenienced and this was definitely an inconvenience. 

"Why did you want to celebrate it?"

"I was confused about your desire to come with me to this conference since it's outside your field of interest. Then I realized your birthday fell during that time and that you likely wanted to celebrate it. I didn't know why you didn't want to be alone but simultaneously didn't want me to know it was your birthday but I tried to honor your wishes."