AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Twenty-Eight
BJ
I tried to break up with her — I’ll start there.
Asked her to a cafe, a weird shit random one, because I read that’s how you break up with girls on the internet. How fucking sad is that? I’m twenty-five years old and Googling how to break up with women because I’ve only ever dated one and she broke me.
All the other girls I just ghost or ignore or fuck again, but Jordan and I are different because we’re official, so I had to end it properly, and I didn’t know how.
A conglomeration of advice from Google:
Take them to a place that doesn’t have emotional significance — hence the random cafe.
Be completely honest but not brutal.
Steer clear of false promises.
Don’t hook up after.
Thought I was ready for it… What I was not ready for was walking into the random cafe and finding her already crying. It was weird. She was crying, holding a mug of coffee to her face, taking a photo of herself.
“You okay?” I asked cautiously as I sat down next to her.
“My parents are splitting up,” she sniffled.
“Oh, shit—” I sighed.
Fuck.
She shook her head, leaned on my shoulder. “They said it’s been a while coming. They’ve gone downhill since I’ve been here — that’s what my sister said.”
I nodded. I didn’t know what to say — my mind was swimming, trying to find any ledge I could’ve grabbed onto that would have saved me from not being the biggest fucking arsehole in the world for still ending it with her then on the spot.
Don’t prolong the inevitable, that’s one of the things Google said. But how?
“J, I’m so sorry—”
“Actually…” She shook her head, wiping her face with her hands. “I have something else I have to talk to you about too.”
Oh shit.
Hope my face didn’t falter when she said that.
“Last night Claudia flooded the apartment. The electrics are fried, so now we have to move out for a bit.” She gave me a horrified look. “Maybe for a month. Maybe longer.” She looked at me and I already knew. “Do you think — would it be okay with Jonah if I stayed? Just for a few weeks while we find a new place?”
“Uh—”
“I’ll pay rent,” she said.
“I don’t need you to pay rent, but I—” I shook my head.
“Check with Jo first.” She grabbed my hand as she nodded. “But I’m sure it’ll be fine. Taura always stays.” She shrugged.
I nodded. Didn’t say anything, I just nodded.
“Thank you.” She smiled, leaned in to kiss me.
I gave her a weak smile, and then she picked up her phone, took a photo of her leaning on my shoulder. Her blue eyes still teary; obviously she’d been crying. Posted it to Instagram, wrote some shit caption about how good a boyfriend I am. Tagged me in it. Got a lot of likes really quickly.
