Love Leaps: A Short Story by Karen Jerabek (best mystery novels of all time .TXT) π
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- Author: Karen Jerabek
Read book online Β«Love Leaps: A Short Story by Karen Jerabek (best mystery novels of all time .TXT) πΒ». Author - Karen Jerabek
βHey, are you heading to lunch?β I ask,trying to be nonchalant.
βYeah, just to the deli across the street.Do you want anything?β he asks with a smile.
βI could use a break, do you mind if I tagalong?β I ask sweetly. Roger and I are friendly but we're moreacquaintances than lunch buddies.
βSure,β he says and shrugs, still smiling atme.
As I get in his car, I try to make politechitchat with him about his dog and his girlfriend and his weekendplans. I just nod as he answers without paying much attention.
βOkay, so I really need your help,β I say,sounding a little more desperate than I had hoped.
βUm, okay Em, what is it?β he asks, glancingat me curiously.
βSo, my boyfriend, Gray, and I have beendating almost a year and things were great or well, they werepretty good but then last night he said he felt like he was livingsomeone else's life and that he needed space to figure it all out.This makes no sense to me at all!β I say exasperated.
βOf course it doesn't,β he chuckles. βYou'rea girl.β
βOkay, but what does it mean?β I ask.
βGirls don't need space. They thrive inrelationships. But, men need some space here and there to getthings figured out,β he says.
βWhy?β I ask dumbfounded.
βI don't know why,β he says. βThat's justhow we're programmed, I guess.β
βBut, he's never needed space before,β Ipout. βWhy now?β
βMy guess is that he's really stressed outabout something. And, he probably did need space before and eitherdidn't take it or only needed a day or two so you didn't reallynotice it.β
βSo, what am I supposed to do?β I say,feeling no more closer to understanding this need for space thingthan I did before.
βJust leave him alone,β Roger says.
βThat's it, just leave him alone?β
βYep, he'll figure it out,β he says with alevel of confidence that I don't share.
βWhat if he doesn't?β I ask quietly. This isa question I haven't really allowed myself to think until rightnow. As the words leave my mouth, I'm flooded with this stomachturning sense of fear.
βHe probably will but if he doesn't, thenyou'll just need to let him go,β he says practically.
βAnd so what am I supposed to do in themeantime?β I ask, starting to feel some anger bubble up inside ofme.
βI don't know, hang out with yourgirlfriends more, I guess,β he offers.
βSo you're basically saying that you thinkhe's normal, that he'll figure it out and that he'll come back tome?β I toss at him.
βNo promises,β he says, trying to avoid anyfuture blame. βBut yeah, I think that about sums it up.β
βAlright,β I sigh. βThanks for the maleinsight.β
βSorry it isn't what you want to hear,β hesays and pats my shoulder. βJust give him some space and it willall work out.β
βWell, do you think he's trying to break upwith me and is just using this as an excuse?β I ask.
βNo, I don't think he'd be that selfish.I've only met him a couple times at the office, but he seems like adecent guy. Try not to worry about it,β he says with a shrug.
βThanks,β I say, realizing my shrink timewith him is up. We walk into the deli and order a couple sandwichesto go, while I make some more mindless chitchat that is totallyirrelevant.
The next several days go by in a blur. Ispend countless hours pouring over relationship advice articles.I'm devouring everything on the web that is available yet nothingseems to make me feel better. I'm trying to respect Gray's decisionto take some time for himself but it's killing me not to talk tohim. We used to text several times a day, see each other mostnights out of the week and when we didn't see each other, we wereon the phone to check in before we went to bed. Now, all of thathas been ripped away and I'm left with a gaping hole. I checking mycell phone obsessively, hoping he'll have texted or called. Hehasn't. I try to remind myself of that fact before I check my phoneagain for the hundredth time but I can't help it, I look anyways. Iwant to call or at least text him to see how he's doing, but allthe self help articles beg me not to do that. They say that thelonger you chase after a man who needs space, the more time he'llneed before he's ready to come back to you. And so, I bite my nailsinstead. It's a disgusting habit that I still haven't been able tobreak as an adult. But, it's better than eating Ho Hos, Ireason.
Jessica made me promise her that when I feltthe urge to call Gray, that I'd call her instead. She agrees withthe psycho babble that I'm reading about respecting a man's needfor space, especially if you want the relationship to continue. AndI do, I think.
I say βI thinkβ because while I've beenobsessively checking my phone, calling Jessica multiple times a dayand reading online articles incessantly, I've also developed quitea bit of anger. I'm really pissed off and I'm not quite sure I wanta relationship with a man that will just take off with some vaguereason of needing space and no agenda or time limit in mind. I wanta man that will never walk away. After reading a couple hundredarticles on the subject, I'm beginning to wonder if that's evenpossible to find. They keep insisting that all men need space andthat they all take it in their own ways. Women on the other handdon't really need space, they need to talk about their feelings andget reassurance. Of course, that actually makes sense to me. But,running away and hiding, while you wait for an epiphany makesabsolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Men!
I glance at my phone again, and it's blank,as usual. I blink back some tears that well up in my eyes. Myemotions are ping ponging around. I go from being pissed off tobeing sad to being hurt to being angry. It's all jumbled togetherand I don't like how I'm feeling. It
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