Page 15 of Save the Date

“Hi, Emma, it’s Michelle.”

Michelle was around Emma’s age and had been the one to reach out about the potential of writing a book after finding Emma’s content on YouTube. Michelle was a younger editor and was hoping to use her social media fluency as a leg up in her old-school industry. Emma had been unbelievably flattered when Michelle reached out and immediately sent over a flurryof potential book ideas. They ultimately decided onThe Good-Enough Relationship: How Unrealistic Expectations Get in the Way of Love.The first draft was a blend of Emma’s experiences as a couples therapist, the latest evidence-based relationship research and snippets of her own love story with Ryan. That last part was the problem.

“How’re you doing?” Michelle asked with the gentleness of someone who expected a long and harrowing answer.

“I’m, you know, still processing. But I’m excited to dive back into the manuscript,” Emma lied. She wondered if Michelle was going to bring up Operation: Save My Date or if she’d stopped watching Emma’s content once they had a signed deal. She secretly prayed for the latter even if it meant one less view.

“I’m glad to hear that. I know we’ll have to make a lot of changes given what happened, but I still think the book has good bones. I really enjoyed the read.”

Emma sighed with relief. After she’d rushed to meet her deadline right before Ryan left, it had mostly been radio silence as Michelle worked through the draft. This was the first she was hearing that it wasn’t a complete disaster.

“That’s great. I was worried you hated it!”

“If I hated it, this would be an email not a phone call. I hate confrontation.”

“Good to know. The next time I see an email from you, I’ll be sure to panic.” Emma let out a nervous giggle that didn’t enhance her awkward joke.

Michelle, smart enough to bypass the minefield of Emma’s writing insecurity, replied, “So, what are you thinking for the next draft? I know it would be easiest to cut Ryan out completely, but I don’t want to lose the personal narrative. We’ve found people engage with advice better when it seems to be coming from a real person and not just an expert.”

“Yeah, I get that. I’m just worried that if I include what really happened, my premise will sort of fall apart,” Emma replied.

“Maybe. Or maybe it will prove it. Did Ryan have unrealistic expectations about love?”

“Oh. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Really? That’s the first thing I thought when I found out he left without any real reason. I mean why do you do that unless you think there’s something better out there?”

For someone who hated confrontation, Michelle didn’t have any aversion to being blunt. But it was a good point: could Emma’s own relationship have fallen victim to the very type of thinking she railed against? Had Ryan convinced himself he could “do better” or “love more” when really what he should have been doing was pouring more effort into what he and Emma had already built together? The possibility made Emma’s heart sink. But it did lend itself to a compelling book narrative. If only it wasn’t about her own life.

“You could be right,” Emma confessed. “I clearly didn’t know what was going on in his head.”

“Well, it’s a theory. And one that could work well for the book. You could even do a thing where you don’t reveal until the very end that he left you. And then it’s like,Boom, unrealistic expectations ruined my relationship too!”

Emma felt a sob almost escape her body, but she managed to turn it into a fake cough instead. While she understood where Michelle was coming from, the delivery could’ve used some work.

“Totally. Yeah. Let me think on the right approach and get back to you.” If Emma could make it off this call without bursting into tears, she deserved a medal in composure. And maybe some ice cream.

“Perfect. In the meantime, I’ll send you all my notes on the current draft in the next few days. I’ve been highlighting every time you mention Ryan, so we know what needs to change.”

“Sorry to make you do that.”

“It’s no problem. Maybe it will feel nice to delete him.”

Emma laughed to be polite, but she knew that she would never get to fully delete the remnants of Ryan from her book or from her life. That’s not how the mind worked.

“Oh, and Emma?”

“Yeah?”

“If you pull off this whole Save My Date thing, I want it as the epilogue. Or, depending on how things go, maybe it’s juicy enough for its own book. Like an unconventional follow-­­up or sequel.”

“Wow, that would be amazing,” Emma replied, trying not to convey her quickened heart rate. Her mind flashed forward to one year in the future. Best-case scenario she would be a newlywed on a major book tour with a second book deal. Worst case… Well, worst case was almost too terrifying to think about. “And just for curiosity’s sake, what would happen if I don’t, you know, pull it off?”

“Then we pretend it never happened. And hope it doesn’t completely ruin your credibility.” Michelle paused. “But who knows! Wilder things have happened. My aunt met my uncle after falling off a cruise ship.”

Emma wasn’t sure what that peculiar love story had to do with anything, but she was sure that the stakes of her little experiment were now at an all-time high. She had to get to work, both on and off the page.

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