of unwanted complications

He asks you to marry him, and you sit there dumbfounded. Your world comes crashing down. Three failed marriages between the two of you, and you were so sure it would never come to this.

Why, is all you manage to come up with. You’re choking with what he thinks is emotion, but really it is dread. You’re lonely most days, but you like your loneliness, and are not sure you want to give it up that easily. You’re not sure you can keep things rolling smoothly for very long in a relationship, and you haven’t really been together that long.

Because I love you. Because I was born to be with you. Because if you and I can’t make a marriage work, nobody can. I have a million reasons but I hope these are enough.

He puts you on a clichéd pedestal and you hate that about him. Despite the many fights you have he thinks the two of you are just sailing along, being happy.

But you know hat is not how love works. First you hold hands. Then you sing and dance in the rain. Then you make out a little bit. And just when life begins to border on miraculous, someone wants to get married. Before you know it, one of the two people involved starts to cry a lot and the other one starts to care less and less. Soon, one or both of you start growing sarcastic. Once that happens, love goes flying out of the window.

What’s worse, you don’t even believe in happily-ever-after, unconditional love. Your love has a gazillion conditions. I love you sounds the same to you as I love you, but only until you love me in return. You get Neruda. Hell you could be Neruda!

You’re detached and emotionless at best, and that’s not even the worst thing about you. At this point you’re wondering why he even likes you.

Anyhow, you’ve been awfully quiet and you’re not sure what to do, so you summon your tears, which is incredibly easy, considering what a crafty woman you are. He puts his arm around you. You’re fidgety and uncomfortable and he senses it, but he says nothing.

You can’t decide which of the two is going to kill you first — the silence in the room or the noise in your head.

Say something. Anything.

Yes.

It’s that simple.