Getting Over
Josh slumped in the corner booth, his coffee going cold in front of him. Zara stabbed at her omelet.
“You’ve got the full sad-boy aesthetic going.”
“Glad to know my misery is entertaining.”
“Entertaining? No. Painfully obvious? Yes. You’ve been moping for weeks. When do we move on to the angry playlist phase?”
“It’s been a month.” He sighed. “And I still can’t get him out of my head.”
“You weren’t together that long. But it’s Ben. Of course you’re still hung up.”
“I keep replaying it. Every conversation, every little moment. And it’s like… was I blind? Did I miss the signs?”
“What signs?”
“All of them. How he never really let me in. How I was always the third wheel to whatever was going on in his head. Hell, I knew something was wrong before he even spoke. He had that… breakup face.”
“What the hell is a breakup face?”
“That look people get when they’ve already made up their mind but still have to deliver the bad news. He walked in like he was giving a eulogy, and surprise, it was for us.”
“Let me guess. He even looked sorry, like that made it better.”
“Yeah, and the worst part? I saw it coming. Months ago. And I stayed anyway. Like an idiot.”
“Not an idiot. Just the kind of guy who thinks patience is a personality trait.”
“I figured if I waited long enough, I’d stop feeling like the stand-in every time Matt came up.”
“And there it is. Took him long enough.”
Josh glared. “Don’t.”
“What? It’s not like I’m wrong. You’re up against the patron saint of Ben’s unresolved issues. That’s not on you.”
“Bad luck. Sure. Let’s call it that.”
“Fine. It’s also Ben never actually dealing with anything.”
“Do you think I was too much for him?”
“Josh. You didn’t scare him. You just didn’t come with twelve years of history.”
“You don’t have to sugarcoat it.”
“Who’s sugarcoating? He screwed up, plain and simple. But you need to stop rewriting history like it was all on you. It wasn’t.”
“I just… I wanted it to work.”
“And you showed up like it could. That’s more than I can say for him.”
“God, you’re mean. No wonder it helps.”
“Bite-size clarity and brutal honesty. I should start invoicing.”
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