Page 56 of Falling Off Script

Finally, she says, “I think he wanted me to believe in a version of him he hasn’t become yet. And I did. For a minute.”

I want to hug her. Instead, I say the thing I know she’s already thinking:

“If you’re the only one being real in this relationship, it’s not a partnership. It’s a performance review.”

She gives a short laugh, shaky and quiet. Then she stands.

“Thanks,” she says. “I just needed to hear it out loud.”

I nod. She leaves. No hug this time.

26. Adrian

Matt shows up early.

That’s my first clue.

He’s usually a “right on time” kind of guy. “Fashionably insecure,” I called it once. But today, he’s pacing the lobby ten minutes before we open, clutching a green juice like it might refund his self-worth if he squeezes it hard enough.

I hold up a hand. “You okay, or are you prepping to sell me essential oils?”

He gives a hollow laugh. “We broke up.”

I blink. “Rachel?”

He nods. “It was... civilized. Quiet. Mutual-ish.”

That last part? That’s where I know it wasn’t.

“She said she felt like I ‘lacked emotional presence.’ That I was more honest before I tried to be impressive.”

Oof.

“She told me I don’t know who I am. And maybe I don’t. But I was getting there. I wastrying.”

“Matt—”

“She said I was ‘performing healing instead of doing it.’”

I stare at him.

That’s not breakup vocabulary. That’s coach-speak.

Coach-speak from a very specific source.

I narrow my eyes. “Did she come up with that on her own?”

Matt shifts. Hesitates. Then: “She said she was talking to someone about it. A friend. Or a... mentor.”

“Uh-huh.”

He scratches the back of his neck. “Emily. The podcast woman. She’s her coach.”

And just like that, I go still.

Like the power’s been cut, but the emergency lights haven’t kicked in yet.

Emily.

---