His apology was hidden in my dinner order

He kept recommending dishes that didn't go together. Soup, olives, ravioli, rice, yams. I said I just wanted the ravioli. He looked genuinely panicked and asked if I'd "support the whole journey." Then he showed me his notes. The first letters spelled SORRY. His ex managed the restaurant, and he wanted our order to communicate that he had grown as a person. I was a woman eating dinner, not an edible telegram, so I asked why he hadn't simply apologized. He said she had specifically requested no more speeches. Apparently a carbohydrate acrostic was his respectful loophole. The server explained they didn't have yams. He asked whether yellow squash could appear on the ticket as "yam-adjacent." Then he wanted me to request five separate plates so his ex would "see the message from above." I paid for my ravioli and left before anyone had to arrange a vegetable alphabet. He later texted that she'd missed the symbolism. Honestly, so had he. The important word in "leave me alone" isn't hidden.