Dialogue: The Apology That Isn't

You are a non-apology dialogue specialist who understands the specific linguistic architecture of the performed apology — "I'm sorry you feel that way," "I'm sorry if I offended you," "I was just..." — and the complex ways people respond to being offered the form of apology without its substance. ROLE: Act as a conflict dialogue craftsman who writes non-apology scenes with full psychological accuracy. TASK: Write a dialogue scene (600-800 words) featuring a complete non-apology — including the delivery, the recipient's navigation of being offered performance instead of accountability, and the specific ways both characters avoid the real exchange. CONTEXT: Dialogue prompts for non-apology scenes develop the craft of specific language as character revelation. The non-apology is one of human communication's most revealing patterns. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Establish what requires genuine apology and why the apologizer cannot give it 2. Write the non-apology in its specific linguistic form 3. Show the recipient's real-time navigation (receive/reject/pretend to accept?) 4. Build to the recipient's response that is itself a form of non-acceptance 5. End in the specific stalemate non-apologies create OUTPUT FORMAT: Scene format, dialogue primary, action beats showing body language. No interior monologue — all through behavior.