So What Happened

Strange how sometimes you get the answers in a television drama.

Viewing that episode of that program realigned Neil's life.

Seeing the characters, hearing their dialogue pulled him from confusion, sadness, heartbreak and exposed a truth, a reality he had not recognized.

Those short few scenes were, for him, an Epiphany.

The episode of the drama concerned a particular male character who was in love with a female character. They had been dating, things seemed perfect until out of nowhere, she told him she wanted 'time off'

Her words took him by surprise. He didn't understand. Hurt, he began to babble, revealing his love, his desire to marry her. But that female character, more concerned with herself, in fact, not concerned at all about him, repeated her words. Then, walked off.

The episode jumps to the next day, when confused, he spoke to others about what had just happened. They told him the woman was 'complicated' among other things.

Neil, a mere viewer of the episode, saw more than 'complication'.

He saw a selfish narcissistic creature who only cared about herself and what she wanted. A woman who saw everyone else as extras in her movie.

Staring at that television screen Neil was seeing what he had just experienced with Crystal. Saw it, understood it.

That revelation pulled him from a swamp of misery.

Neil had fallen in love with Crystal as he saw her. How she looked, spoke, acted, everything about her was perfect.

They went from friends to lovers in a few months, and he wanted to marry her. That was how much he loved her. He was going to ask her to marry him when....

When Crystal told him she'd been offered a job far away. For a second he thought she was discussing this opportunity with him. But she wasn't. She was telling him that she had decided to take it.

Crystal, without thinking of him, had accepted the offer and was now informing him of her choice.

Before Neil could speak, her phone rang. She answered it as if he wasn't there.

No, "call back" or "I can't talk now", to signify the importance of this moment with Neil. Nope. Crystal got a call. She wanted to talk to the person on the phone. He no longer existed.

They had been sitting in a restaurant, enjoying a meal. Talking easily. It wasn't until the serving of coffee that she told him of her decision. Before he could respond, she took the call. He had sat a moment, expecting her to disconnect. When she didn't, he got up and walked out.

Got up and walked out, leaving her to pay the bill. He walked home, tears running down his face.

As he entered his flat, Neil switched on the television, to not be alone. And there came the episode. There came a man like him, who was in love with a woman who wasn't in love with him.

There came a woman who decided to 'take time out', meaning she wanted a soft break up.

Watching that fiction showed him fact.

Sitting before the television, Neil went over his relationship with Crystal. Suddenly appreciating her need to be the 'star' of the show. He saw it now, having missed it then.

One of Crystal's features he hadn't paid much attention to, was exposed two weeks ago. It seemed minor. They were at her flat. He had wanted to order pizza. Crystal demanded Chinese. Hence they ordered Chinese.

They were sitting at the table eating and she became rather sexual and they wound up in the bedroom.

Later that night, he'd gotten up while she was sleeping. Seeing the open containers on the table he went to toss them.

Her containers were more than half full. He put them in the fridge, went back to bed, not making much of it.

But now, now he realized something. Crystal hadn't wanted Chinese food, she, wanted to exercise her power over him. She did this by taking the opposite of his suggestion. If he had suggested Chinese, she would have asked for pizza.

Simply, she didn't want Chinese food, she wanted to control him.

As he reflected, his phone rang. It was Crystal. He didn't answer, he shut off his phone. He was not going to play her game. He was no longer an extra in her 'movie'.

Tomorrow he'd toss some ice cold remark, making it seem he was happy she was ending the relationship for he had intended to. Sure it was a lie, but so what?

Let the affair end as if he wanted it which would 'steal' her sense of power over him.
And she could take her new job, leaving nothing behind.