Coffee Mess

Bad At Love

"I don't know...maybe not. I had already given up hope on us, I wouldn't be able to leave if I hadn't"

"Then don't feel bad about leaving. I get it. You needed to move forward. I didn't expect you to call anyway, I wasn't that naive to think that you would leave everything and come back. And even if you wanted to do that, I wouldn't have let you do it, because honestly, after Ian, I needed to explore that new part of me..."

"Why did you break up with him anyway?"

"We realized that it wasn't gonna work. He needed someone who knew what she wanted and was ready to settle down, not a 19-year-old girl who had never been in a real relationship before and didn't even know how to be in one. And I needed someone who didn't have to be instructed on how to be a boyfriend"

"I'm glad you realized it soon enough"

"Your talk with him really helped. He got worried I wasn't happy, so he tried getting me gifts, one day he got me a new phone and that triggered a we need to talk kind of reaction, so we opened our cards and we decided to call it quits"

"I'm glad I could help. I didn't want you to break up, but I wanted you to be happy...even without me"

"Want the truth? I don't think I've been happy since you left..."

"Oh come on, I'm sure you got over it"

"Did u get over me?"

"I think I shouldn't answer..."

"Why?" I ask and he nods to my left hand, on which I have an engagement ring, making me look at it

"Oh, that...it's nothing, I'm not engaged anymore, I just like the ring. And I've been wearing it for so long that I don't know how not to"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's ok, it would have come up anyway"

"What happened?"

"He cheated on me...multiple times. I only found out a month ago, though; I caught him in his office one day, when I went to show him some great venues for the wedding. How ironic, huh? I was planning our wedding and he was screwing his secretary! How cliché, anyway!"

"Very cliché! How long were you 2 together?"

"2 and a half years. Can u believe it? I was with someone for 2 and a half years and I was about to get married...me! The girl who cried independence!" I say and he laughs

"Is my pain amusing you?" I tease him and he chokes, trying to stop

"I'm sorry" he clears his throat "No, not at all, I just like the way you said it" he apologizes nervously

"Hey, relax, I'm teasing you" I say smiling, touching his arm and he immediately looks at it, so I just take it back quickly

"So," now I'm the one clearing her throat "anyone special in your life?" I ask him smirking

"Not really..."

"Oh, come on, I don't believe it. You're the perfect guy, honestly"

"I'm really not..." he replies looking away shyly

"I've been around you long enough to know that you are. Come on, tell me, what is it? Is it the mustache?" I say teasingly and he chuckles

"No, the mustache is relatively new"

"Will you now tell me what happened? I told you about my failed engagement, it's only fair that you tell me about this" I say and he sighs

"Ok, I'll tell you. You see, after I left L.A., I decided to follow your steps and stay single for a while. So I started sleeping with girls, without wanting anything more, and I can admit it felt good not to have expectations for a while. Soon, though, I started feeling like I wasn't me anymore. Like I was losing myself, like I was pretending to be someone else, you know? So I stopped sleeping around and I ended up spending about one and a half years single and without sex"

"Harsh!"

"It was. But it did me good; I found myself, focused on my family and all that crap. And one day, my sister set me up with one of her friends. Long story short, we were together for 3 years and I thought we were good. But the day I was about to propose to her, she told me that she has been seeing someone else for a few months and that she wants us to break up"

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry" I exclaim shocked

"Don't, there's a silver lining! I couldn't take my money back from the ring, but I got store credit and got birthday presents for my mom and sisters" He says proudly, making me chuckle

"Ok then. But how is that connected to the mustache?"

"I'm getting there, bare with me"

"Ok, I'm waiting"

"So, we broke up and I spent about a month being an absolute mess. But one day, I woke up pissed as hell and decided that I won't let her win. So I started dating again, but my relationships wouldn't last for more than a couple of months. The last time I got in a relationship, about 2 months ago, my friends bet me that we will break up in less than a month. If I lost the bet, I would get a mustache for a month, if I won, they would get one"

"And u lost..."

"And I lost...we broke up 3 weeks later. I have one more week with this thing on my lips"

"It's like you didn't even try to win, dude..."

"Trust me, I did. But she was horrible! I tried my best, believe me" He says apologetically, making me laugh

"Ok, ok, I believe you. But, besides the teasing, I know how it feels to be cheated on. Especially while thinking everything is great..."

"It fucking hurts, doesn't it?"

"Like a motherfucker! Are you ok? I mean, have you gotten over it?"

"I have, yeah. I still have some trust issues, but in general, I'm ok"

"I'm glad. I know it's hard to get over something like that. It makes you feel insecure and like you did something wrong"

"Actually it made me question myself. Like: was I really that naive? Was I that ignorant?"

"Trust me, I know. But, hey, it's over now. You're still young"

"That's true. But it's so hard to find a decent human being"

"I know..."

"Look at us... We haven't seen each other in 6 years and we happened to find each other after we both got cheated on" he says in a fun-like tone, but ironically

"True. We're both equally bad at love" I reply and we laugh

"U never answered my first question, though...did you ever manage to get over me?"