Break it up, part II

Monday, I was nervous about seeing Mr. B post-breakup, but it went okay. Tuesday he came to my classroom to chat, and the rest of the week he was really friendly.

Wow, I thought to myself, This breakup is going really well!

Then on Friday he called me, and I was so happy to get the call. You see, a part of me hoped he was calling to apologize and get back together. Well, I was half right.

"You seemed really distant all week...like you didn't want to see or talk to me," he said.

"Well, things were awkward, especially on Monday, but that's normal, right?" I replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you used the words 'time,' and 'space' and said I could see other people."

"I wanted to think things through and I didn't want you to feel like you had to wait around for me, but I still want to see you. I think this time apart was really good for us. How do you feel about it?"

"Well, I definitely think it's good things didn't go on the way they were with us fighting..."

"Exactly!"

"But...but I'm still stuck on you not trusting me," I said. (During the big fight we had, he implied I lied to him about something. For the record, I was telling the truth.) He told me, again, how he trusts me not to hurt him, but that doesn't mean he has to believe everything I say. He claimed it was petty of me be so focused on that.

"If you want to throw away something that could be good over something so petty, fine," he fumed.

"I can't be with someone who doesn't believe me," I said.

"I'm not asking you to be with me."

"Well, exactly," I replied, "So I hope we can get along like we did this week."

"No, I just meant...why can't we just go out and spend time together without all this committment stuff?"

"What committment stuff? I don't care about committment. Let me put it this way: I can't date someone who doesn't believe me."

"Fine," he responded tersely, "Call me if you change your mind." Say what! That almost made me laugh, the nerve of it.

"Oh," I replied brightly, "I'll do that." But don't hold your breath, I thought.