"So this is it then?" Ryan asks after a moment, standing in your living room and staring at you like he doesn't know you at all. "You're moving to Colorado and we're not even going to talk about it."
"There's nothing to talk about," you reply shortly, your back to him as you start boxing up different items in your kitchen. You already have a few boxes packed by the door, you'd started this morning and haven't had time to slow down. "You knew that I was trying for this promotion and I'd have to move if I got it when you started dating me."
"I just... thought we'd talk about it, first," Ryan hesitates, running his fingers through his dark hair as he looks at you. You wish he wouldn't look at you like a kicked puppy, it tugs at your heart, but there's not much you can do now, you've already accepted!
You and Ryan have only been dating a few months, but... well, you really like him. He's talented, you love watching him play guitar, and he makes you laugh, even if he is a perfectionist. It's just that this is your career, you've been working ten years in this field and this is really an opening for you. If you turn it down, you're going to stay in the dead-end position you currently have for another year, maybe more!
This is what you've been wanting!
"What could we talk about, Ryan?" You sigh, brushing your hair behind your ears as you cut your eyes at him. You've been avoiding looking at him directly, because he might be able to make you change your mind and you simply don't want too! "I have to be there by the end of the week, and I have a lot of packing to do, so if you don't mind ---."
"So the last four months were just... you were just passing time with me? Like none of it mattered at all to you?" He interrupts you, and for a moment, you swear he's mad at you. How can he be mad when you told him how this could go? You made it explicitly clear the first date you went on that you could move, that it could end the relationship. He's settled here, but you're not, you don't have anything holding you back or tying you down.
"Don't be like that."
"What? Angry? Pissed?"
"Pretty much! I told you that I would be leaving eventually, you knew this would be a good relationship for fucking but nothing else. We're not even really dating, remember?" You remind, shoving your box away from you as you turn around, jerking the kitchen drawers open. Just saying that burns, you hate the taste it leaves in your mouth. "You said that we probably shouldn't since it was just going to end anyway."
Like your third date, you remember him saying that to you. Since you might be moving, he didn't want to get too serious, you guys should keep it casual. It sort of annoyed you then, but you understood and accepted that it was the best idea. It seems like he forgot his own suggestion. It's not as if he's in love with you either, the relationship is too fresh, at least in your mind. You didn't think he's being so dramatic about the breakup.
Ryan does not remember saying anything like that! At all! He doesn't want you to move across the country, not when things are going so well! You're the first woman he's really liked like this in a long time, he was --- well, it could go somewhere, just given the time. It could really be something.
"You don't have to go."
"I do." You say firmly, your voice leaving no room for argument. The moment the promotion was offered to you, you snatched it, and you're not turning it down for some relationship you're not even serious about. You don't know what could happen, it could end in another three weeks and then you just missed your chance! You don't want to end up bitter, falling down the ladder rather than climbing because of some man who may or may not end up loving you!
