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EMMA

NOTICE OF EVICTION

Occupant: Vinny Brooks

Reason: Twelve years of unauthorized residency in my heart

Effective immediately

I came to Starbucks today to start my journey of getting over the man who has lived rent-free in my heart for twelve years.

It’s eviction day.

I’m not just typing up the eviction notice; I’m actually mailing it.

Once and for all.

I’m not stupid. Feelings like this won’t go away overnight, but I’m starting the long and painful process, and that’s a huge first step for me.

“Emma!” The girl behind the counter looks around.

Even from my spot in the middle of the restaurant, I can see her holding up the green matcha latte. I grab the cup from off the counter and head back to my seat. My laptop is dialed up and ready to go.

After the wedding cake incident two nights ago, I texted Avery that I was finally ready to kick this bad habit to the curb. She knew exactly what I was referring to and immediately sent me a link to a YouTube video: “How to Stop Loving Someone You Can’t Have.” Brutally honest title, but I’m willing to give it a watch. I mean, what better way to get life advice than from a YouTube video by an absolute stranger?

I tried to watch the video last night in my apartment, but every time I started it, I immediately stopped it. There’s no accountability when you’re alone. You take the easy way out. And the easy way was turning on a documentary and mourning the loss of the love of my life. So round two of trying to watch this video is in a very public restaurant.

I place my AirPods in my ears and push play. The video starts with an ad. The volume seems a little low, so I turn it up louder, waiting the mandatory five seconds before I can skip the ad and get to the real reason I’m here.

A man with a pleasant British accent and a nice smile starts talking. “If you are in pain right now because the love of your life loves someone else and you need to get over them, this video is for you.”

Oh, do I know pain.

Twelve years of it, to be exact.

“Because in this video, I’m going to tell you what it takes to move on with your life even though you can’t be with the person you love.”

Avery’s not beating around the bush here.

Good. I sit up taller. That’s the kind of tough love I need.

“When someone breaks up with us…” Technically, I broke up with Vinny, but he’s the one who moved on from me. “...it is devastating when we love that person. It feels like we have lost the one thing in the world that we need to be happy. It’s even more devastating when they move on with someone else and love another. It feels like we can’t breathe. We can’t sleep. We can’t eat. It feels like our world is shattered, and we become obsessed with not having them.”

Tell me about it.

“We’ve pictured a future with them, a life, a reality where you existed together, and now they’re living that reality with someone else, so a kind of obsession takes over. Many of you are probably in that obsessive rumination right now, holding onto a one-sided love that will never amount to anything.”

Obsessive rumination. Man, this guy is good.

“Some might even feel pathetic for holding onto unrequited feelings.”

Pathetic, yes.

I know it.

You know it.

We allll know it.