Page 62 of Falling Off Script

He’s slouched on the edge of the studio couch, fingers laced like a prayer he doesn’t believe in anymore.

“She’s not answering my texts,” he says.

I raise an eyebrow. “That could mean a lot of things. Maybe she’s busy. Maybe she’s reflecting. Maybe her phone is in a river because you said ‘I’m holding space for your journey’ while she was crying.”

He flinches. A little.

“I messed it up,” he admits. “And I don’t just mean the conversation. I mean... the whole thing. From the start.”

Now that’s rare. Most guys, even post-breakup, are still looking for a way to win. Still trying to spin the story so they don’t come off like the villain—or worse, the loser.

But Matt?

Matt looks like he doesn’t care how it looks. Only that it’s gone.

“I keep replaying the way she looked at me,” he says quietly. “Like I was a script she already knew the ending to.”

I feel that one.

Deep in the ribs.

And instinctively, my response kicks in. The usual speech.

“Matt,” I say, leaning back, “you’re young, you’re decent-looking, you’ve done the work. There are hundreds of Rachels out there. Thousands. You can walk into Erewhon tomorrow and accidentally fall in love over raw honey.”

He doesn’t laugh.

He just looks at me, eyes steady.

“I don’t want another Rachel,” he says. “I want her.”

I freeze.

He means it. Not like a guy clinging to scarcity, but like someone who’s seen the real thing and knows he’s not going to get that twice by accident.

“Look,” he adds, “I know you probably think this is weak. Or codependent. Or whatever word you use when someone actually cares.”

That stings more than I want to admit.

I stand. Walk to the window like that’ll help me outrun the part of myself that does think those things—until recently.

“You love her?” I ask, without looking.

He hesitates. “I think I could. If she let me try again.”

That’s enough.

I turn back around. “Alright.”

Matt blinks. “Alright?”

“You want her back? We’ll get her back. If you agree to document everything and let me turn it into a case study.”

“You really think I can?”

I give him a long look. “I think heartbreak’s inevitable. Might as well make it content.”

His smile wobbles. “That’s bleak.”

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