𝙎𝙐𝙉𝙎𝙀𝙏 𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙇𝙀𝙑𝘼𝙍𝘿 // 𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙀́ 𝙓 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 - 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙊𝙧 𝙄𝙨 𝙄𝙩?

New York City

"How do you get over it?"

I stop what I'm doing and look at Irene. She's wrapped up in one of the blankets that I like to keep on the couch. She looks a little bit like a dumpling if I'm being honest. The thought of Irene being a dumpling brings a smile to my face.

"Get over what?"

"Heartbreak."

I look up at her, surprised. "Heartbreak?"

"Yeah."

We've spent so much time talking about me and my whole life that I've sefishly forgotten that Irene has a life outside of me. "Are you in a relationship?"

Irene hesitates to answer me. She nods but then she shakes her head. "Well, what is it darling? Yes, you're in a relationship or no, you're not in a relationship."

She laughs and curls up tighter on my sofa. "It's complicated....he, well...he is my boyfriend and we've dated for awhile now but he's not...he's not what I want."

I've been through a lot in my lifetime and I've heard every reason for why heartbreak exists but Irene is a journalist and I've learned the hard way that journalists have a lot of tricks up their sleeve. Irene is no exception.

"What's wrong?" She looks like she's on the verge of tears.

She takes a deep breath and smiles at me. She has that smile where it tries to trick you into thinking they're okay but I've practiced that smile one too many times to believe it. "He's great, really. Some would even say he's perfect and for the longest time, I thought he was perfect but now....I just don't see him like that anymore."

"Did you fall out of love?"

Falling out of love isn't uncommon. It's more common than it isn't. I give a small smile and squeeze her hand to provide her with some kind of comfort from a woman who's had more than a million heartbreaks for one lifetime. "You don't have to stay in a relationship if you don't love them anymore."

"I wish it were that easy, Rosie. Really."

I gave her permission to call me 'Rosie' a couple days ago after we cooked dinner together and watched 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days'. "What's complicated about it?" I rub her back soothingly.

"I'm in love with his fucking mother, Rosie."

"Oh fuck."

Oh fuck it was indeed.

How did that even happen? Here I was, thinking that I was the world's most complicated lover then Irene Holt comes along and completely debunks that theory.....sort of. "How?"

"She had him when she was young, so really, she's not that old."

"How old is she?" Suddenly I have that overwhelming feeling of protectiveness. I feel like a mother concerned that her daughter may be making a huge mistake.

"She's forty-five, she had him when she was eighteen."

"You guys are twenty-seven years apart."

"Yes, I know." She looks at me with a slight glare, she's probably annoyed that I've stated the obvious. The very big age difference between them was probably a major factor that she has not stopped thinking of ever since she discovered her feelings for her boyfriend's mother.

"How did it happen?"

"We're in the same field."

"You're both journalists?"