Page 18 of Save the Date

“I don’t think they can either.”

The fights in 3C were a thing of legend. The combination of thin walls and booming voices meant everyone in the complex was always up to date on the latest drama between two people who looked like librarians and fought like reality TV stars. The night before Emma moved out, there was a huge blowout because the wife had bought the wrong kind of toilet paper—again!

“Do you like it there? I feel like all we did back in the day was talk about moving.”

Rob shrugged and took a sip of the wine that had mercifully been dropped off by a silent busboy. “I don’t hate it. And it’s such a hassle to find a new place. I’d rather do that once I’m in a relationship and we’re moving in together.” Rob’s eyes quickly met Emma’s before diverting elsewhere.

Emma smiled to let him know he hadn’t scared her off. Quite the contrary. “That’s smart. It’s always better to move in somewhere new together instead of one person having to claim space in the other person’s home.”

“Is that what you and Ryan did?”

Emma laughed in response—caught. “No, he moved into my apartment after my roommate left. Maybe that was the beginning of the end.” Emma made a mental note to return to that possibility in therapy.

“Look, I obviously don’t know the guy, and maybe this isn’t my place, but he must have been an idiot to leave someone like you. I mean…” Rob gestured in Emma’s general direction.

The compliment caught her off guard and emboldened her to admit, “You know what? I’ve thought the exact same thing a few times.”Wow.It felt good to confess that, even if it made her seem arrogant. Why pretend she didn’t have a lot going for her—including access to all her parents’ various timeshares? The one in Mexico was breathtaking.

“I’m glad we’re in agreement.” Rob reached across the tableand brushed some hair out of her face. Emma felt herself float out of her body and observe the moment from above. Everything was objectively perfect.

Except for a gnawing sense that she should bat his hand away and run.

***

“You’re not a real person to him. You’re a trophy. A beautiful, midsize, trophy.” Imani was spread out on their office couch, while Emma was perched in the therapist chair, although their seating arrangement didn’t stop Imani from doling out advice.

“No, no. Rob’s a good guy,” Emma protested.

“How many times have you heard a client use those exact words to describe someone who was definitelynota good guy?”

Emma rolled her eyes as memory after memory popped up. She tried not to think about one woman who had said thatafterher boyfriend had stolen all her savings to start an exotic animal business. The things people do for love (and large reptiles).

“I get why you would think that, but I don’t think he’s the problem,” Emma said. “I think I have an aversion to romance or something.”

Imani looked at her with enough skepticism to turn a Catholic agnostic. “What do you mean by that?”

Emma shifted in her chair so her legs were tucked under her butt. She knew her body language was betraying any sense of authority she hoped to convey over her own experience, but it was more comfortable.

“Okay,” Emma said. “So, you know how I love love?”

“Yeah, it’s like half your personality.”

“Well, I think I love love in the sense that it is wonderful to have a partner and someone to share your life with. But I don’t want to stare into anyone’s eyes or have them say sweet nothings in my ear for hours on end. To me, the best kind of love is more like a friendship where you also hold hands sometimes.”

Imani nodded. “That tracks.”

“But I think Rob might be more of a ‘I made you this mixtape because these are the songs I listen to when I think about you’ kind of guy.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He made me a mixtape.”

“Stop!” Imani was so thrown she sat up and stomped the floor in disbelief. “For your first date?”

“After the date. And it wasn’t a mixtape so much as a Spotify playlist.”

“Show it to me.”

“I can’t. I’d die of mortification.”

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