Page 38 of Unless It's You
I hesitate and frown. How honest should I be?
Aunt Evelyn was happy when you and I were together. I think she thinks—thought—I made some kind of mistake breaking up with you. I’m not trying to get back together, and I’m sure you’ve moved on...
Damn, what if he thinks I do wantto get back together? But does it matter? I just need him to talk to me. Hopefully, in this message chain. It really doesn’t make a difference what he thinks about me, as long as I check the bucket list item off.
... but I was hoping to have an honest conversation about why we broke up, and why it was the right thing to do.
I know this is a lot to ask. We can do it here, over email, or text. It’s awkward as hell. But maybe the last six months have let us see everything more clearly.
-Stella
I press send without proofreading. Then I remember how Evelyn wanted me to talk to someone else first, so I open a new email.
To:Gemma Clark
From:Stella Hart
Date:12 July 2024
Subject:Why Ben and I Broke Up (for Evelyn’s bucket list)
Message:
Gemma,
As you might be able to guess, Aunt Evelyn is making me write this email. It’s a list of reasons why Ben and I broke up.
He is too classically good looking (boring)
He likes dogs (I’m allergic)
His flat was too messy (I like things organized)
He laughed too much (didn’t let me act sad)
He was always losing things, like his keys or his phone (and he’d have too much fun while we looked)
Hmm, this list isn’t turning out quite as convincing as I’d hoped. I’m basically writing his online dating profile. Why did we really break up? Really really?
