Love on Notes

3

As I watched Eve, I noticed that I still hadn't got used to her shoulder-length brown hair. I'd known her for five years, and she'd previously had it extremely long. However, this hairstyle suited her much better and framed her face, emphasising her soft cheekbones.

After a few hours of discussion and three Cosmopolitans each, we decided to have dinner in a restaurant and continue our conversation about the man she had seen the day before.

— If only you knew how good he was in bed!

The people present in the restaurant looked at us.

— Shhh! I said.
— Oops, sorry. He was so incredible! she whispered.

I frowned.

— Better than the guy a fortnight ago?

She shook her right hand.

— Oh yes, absolutely, and he was so hot, if you'd seen him, for God's sake.
— And are you planning to see him again? I asked, surprised that she seemed so fascinated.
— No, it's just a bit of fun. You know me: I only have one-night stands.
— But you've never seen him before?
— No, yesterday was the first time I met him, we had a great evening and today is a new day, nothing more.

I didn't know what to make of her one-night stands at the beginning of our university years. However, I quickly realised that it made her happy and she felt good about herself. I found it reassuring that she was always careful about who she dated — she never jumped into the lion's den without thinking.

The rest of the evening went by, alternating between her conquests and gossips about our press team. I got home at around eleven thirty and, after washing the dishes from my lunch, I settled back in my armchair and continued reading New York, Actually.

— You're a guy I met in the park.
She bent down to retrieve her keys just as he bent down to her side.
Molly's mouth was so close to his that he could feel her warm breath on his lips. But he knew that if he kissed her now, he was likely to end up with a black eye. And he couldn't even blame her.
— There's more between us than that, Molly.

Cliché, cliché, cliché. Why Sarah? Ok, so I made it to the fifteenth chapter because I was really swept up in the story and I understand that with Molly's characterisation, her ignorance/denial is the only way, but this scene is far too redundant in the novels, as if you authors are afraid to break away from the traditional and create a new era.

But who does he think he is to judge that from a few words?

Tired and irritated, I got up and looked around for my own little Post-its. I spotted them on the kitchen counter and clumsily grabbed them with a pen, knocking over the notes for my article. I settled back in my armchair and wrote on one of them.

How would you know? Maybe this book is the only novel where she's used a cliché about the main character's denial of the nature of their relationship and if not, she's creating a new era where authors break away entirely from the traditional narrative and flow you'd expect. And to your previous note, perhaps rather than wanting us to feel pity for Molly, the author wants us to be able to see ourselves in her heroine, as many humans resort to humour or second degree in order to spare themselves an uncomfortable moment. So maybe it's a way of making us realise that what Molly is going through can happen to all of us, and above all of giving us hope that we'll find the 'right one' despite a path littered with obstacles? There are so many maybes and, of course, I've taken into account that this is your personal reflection.

When I'd finished, I stuck it next to his note and then hesitated for a long time before rewriting it on another medium, given that the Post-it was sky blue and could be seen sticking out of the pages of the novel.