Page 60 of Let's Get Textual

Zach pauses on the sidewalk. “Did you just call my dimples panty-melters?”

“Did you just say panty-melters not once, but twice?”

“I can do that.” He bends toward me. “Because dimples.”

Playfully shoving him away, I laugh. “How can you be so cute, yet so exhausting?”

“Ah, you think I’m cute. I’ve been called cute before…but that relationship didn’t end so well.”

“No? What happened?”

He hisses. “Isn’t it a big no-no to talk about your exes on the first date?”

“I asked, so I think it’s okay. Besides, this doesn’treallyfeel like a first date to me. We’ve been talking for what, three or so weeks now? I feel like we’re beyond first date yet not quite at second date, if that makes any sense.”

“It does, in a weird sort of way. I must admit though, I was nervous to meet you…worried that what I had built up in my head wouldn’t match.”

“And?”

“Better. So much better.”

I don’t even try to hide my grin. “Your ex—I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

He thinks on this a moment before inhaling a deep breath. “So, my last, and onlyrealgirlfriend…slash fiancée, left me because I gave up my ‘fortune’.”

I hold my hand up. “Pause. Your what?”

“Fortune, if that’s what you want to call it.”

“Care to explain?”

“I formed a company in college, did some good with it, and then sold it for…well, let’s just say it was a large sum. Sure, I took home a ton of money by selling it, but I would have earned more by keeping ownership. She was rather perturbed over all of it. Then when I donated a decent chunk, paid off hers and my brother’s student loans because I’m a nice guy, and bought a car that wasn’t ‘family friendly’ even though ‘that’s where we were headed’, she left. I never understood it. I think she just liked my money and what it could do for her.”

I stand there, mouth open, shock pouring out of me. “You mean to tell me because you didgoodthings with your money fromyourcompany, she bailed?”

“And because I was suddenly an ‘everyday man’ with a nine-to-five, I wasn’t good enough for her. Funny, considering she had no problem with me paying off her loans or dating me when I wouldn’t leave my pigsty of a dorm room for days at a time because I was too wrapped up in code or the latest video game.” He shrugs. “That company changed her and it changed me, we just changed in different ways.”

I shake my head and continue our leisurely stroll. “You said you were engaged?”

“It was brief, but yes. Luckily we hadn’t begun planning anything yet.”

We keep a leisurely pace in silence for about a block. I don’t know what to say. I could say ‘sorry’, but that always feels like an empty word in situations like these. I could tell him I think she’s the most insane woman alive to up and leave him, but I don’t know her or her story. She could have had other things going she wasn’t ready to explain. I can’t judge what I don’t know.

“Now that I’ve killed the conversation…” Zach trails off. “You promised to tell me yours.”

“There’s not much to it. We were better as friends than anything else, and we finally decided to be honest and own up to it. It was amicable and we’re still friends.”

“I’m glad you have closure with him.”

“I hate that you don’t with her. I can’t believe she just dumped you without a solid reason.”

“She liked the money part of me.”

“That’s sad.”

He sighs. “It’s a part of life.”

“Do you think you’d still be together if you hadn’t sold the company?”

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