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She bites her lip. Must be the fiancé.
“Hang on,” I say. “I know exactly where we can go.”
We continue driving in silence for a couple of minutes both drained after that adrenaline rush. When we get to our destination, I pull over to the sidewalk and shut off the engine.
Mia furrows her brows and gazes around the street. “Where are we?”
“Just a random street on Lenox Hill. My parents used to have a place nearby here.” I take off my seatbelt and rest the back of my head against my seat. “This is where I drive when I need to clear my head. It’s quiet.”
Mia removes her seatbelt, then adjusts her dress so she can face me. “You just sit in your car and stare?”
I sweep my eyes over at her and laugh. “Basically.”
She leans back in her seat, joining me in peering out the front window. “People probably think you’re a pervert.”
I huff. “Possibly.”
Mia inhales deeply, then exhales. “It is quiet here.”
My phone vibrates in my jacket pocket, breaking our much-appreciated silence.
Where are you?Lisa texts.
Right, I forgot I was planning on going over to Lisa’s house.
Let’s meet up another time.I text back.
“You want to know the worst part of all of this?” Mia says, still gazing out the window. “My fiancé didn’tjustcheat on me. He cheated on me with one of my bridesmaids.”
“Ouch.”
“I wouldn’t have even known had it not been for the video I received on my way to the ceremony.”
I let out a whistle. “Whoever sent you that must hate your guts.”
“Maybe. But they saved me from making the biggest mistake of my life.”
I adjust the seat so I can stretch out my legs and recline back. “I’m sure they could have done it sooner. They must have wanted you to really feel like shit.”
She sighs. “I thought marrying Michael was what I wanted, but it wasn’t until I saw the video that I realized I always sensed something was off. When he proposed to me, I thought I would be more excited than I actually was. I had to convince myself it was the right decision all the way up to the car.”
“What’s wrong with him? Why weren’t you excited?”
She raises a brow at me. “Aside from being a cheater? I never found anything wrong with him. It was more about what wasn’t right about him.”
I shake my head. “I’m lost.”
“I guess I’ve always had this tiny voice in my head urging me to ask for more, not just someone who checks all the conventionally right boxes.”
I scoff. This girl is unbelievable. “That should have been your sign. You should never make such a big commitment to someone if you’re feeling even the slightest bit uncertain. What’s the matter with you?”
“What’s the matter withyou?” she says, leaning in closer to me like she’s about to punch me in the face. Then, she exhales and peers ahead. “Sorry. You’re right. I just had this vision of what true love felt like. Attraction so powerful, it would be impossible to put out the flames…trust so solid, absolutely nothing could come between two people. But I’ve never felt that with anyone. Eventually, I just accepted it isn’t realistic.”
I can’t explain why, but I feel bad for her. She seems to believe wholeheartedly in an all-encompassing romance. My personal take? We’ve all been brainwashed into believing true love exists when really all it is a miserable ego trip.
“You’re right,” I say. “It isn’t. It’s the kind of stuff you watch in movies or read in books, but it isn’t ever truly as sustainable as one might think. Most relationships are transactional. Love might exist between two people if it’s more give and take than anything.”
She drops her jaw in disbelief that I would make such a declaration. “Wow, someone’s an anti-romantic.”
