Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Ok, so I have been hearing from several people how I have to be FIRM and BLATANT and just tell Mr. South Side, in no uncertain terms, that it is OVER. Which is not easy for a girl like me, because I am good-hearted by nature, and I don’t like hurting other people’s feelings. But this is getting absolutely ridiculous, so I decide that it’s time to just lay down the law.

Over the last week, when I was definitely NOT in the mood to deal with anyone, least of all him, I think he called at least three times a day. On Tuesday, which was his birthday, I did the nice thing and called him to say happy birthday. BUT, I ended the conversation by saying, “Well, enjoy your birthday, but I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to call you again.” Subtle. Maybe TOO subtle, because he called me several times over the next two days. Of course, passive-aggressive that I am, I just ignored the phone and didn’t call back. But on Thursday, I called him at lunch and tried very nicely to explain how I felt.

My lunchtime conversation with him had me very gingerly explaining that we lived so far away, and our schedules were so opposite… I continued by telling him that I had a lot going on in my life right now, and really wasn’t in the mood to deal with ANYONE. He asked what was wrong, and I told him there was just a lot of shit in my life I didn’t feel like discussing, but that I just needed my space. After all this, do you know what he said? He said, “Well, ok, call me later, then.” (Pause here to allow me time to bang my head against a wall.) (Ok, continue.) All I said after that was this: “Goodbye.”

I ignored him on Friday, and miracle of miracles, he didn’t call at all on Saturday. But on Sunday I heard Jojo playing on my cell phone and thought “He’s baaaaaaack!” Once again, I ignored it. He left a message asking me to call him, saying I was probably out at the pool or something, so he’d talk to me later. His number came up twice more, before I decided that I should probably call him back so he would leave me alone. When I called him on my way to my mom’s, I AGAIN tried explaining the whole “we’re too far apart – I don’t have time – I’m not sure if this is right” thing, and he basically told me that he understood, and to call him later. When we hung up, I screamed (and scared my daughter), and not five minutes later Jojo was blaring again. Guess what I did? You got it!!! I IGNORED IT. Then I listened to him tell me he thought he would catch me before I got to my mom’s, and to call him later. After a nice dinner, I went home to watch the Cubs (awesome game, by the way) and ignored two more phone calls: one on my cell and one on my land line.

Which brings us to today. While Satan (my boss) was talking to a client, I decided to suck it up and put an end to this whole thing. I called Mr. South Side and laid it all out for him: I didn’t think things could continue with us. We lived too far apart, we had completely opposite schedules, he’s allergic to my cats, I had NO TIME between now and September to even SEE anyone, and come on, in almost two months we had seen each other exactly four times, including the night we met. He asked me if I was seeing someone else, and stupid as I am, I told him no, that I wasn’t sure I wanted to be involved with ANYONE right now. I told him it wasn’t fair for him because I couldn’t commit, and that I wanted time for myself. I told him he was a nice person, but things just didn’t feel right to me. I told him maybe we were better off just by ourselves.

I thought I did pretty well, but was totally unprepared for what came next. He told me that it was ok, he understood. (BIG sigh of relief!!) That he respected the fact that I needed some time. (Wait a minute here….) That he’ll wait until I have time to see him again. (NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) I patiently told him that I was busy until AT LEAST September 10th, and he said, “Ok. Well, if you have an hour or so free anytime, give me a call. I can come by and see you.” I told him I highly doubted that would work, because I worked all day, and at night Roxy was home. So he said, “Well, then, call me when you’re out here and we’ll get together.” I was completely at a loss. THIS GUY JUST WASN’T GETTING IT. I wound up just saying, “Yeah, ok, whatever.” And hanging up.

BUT WAIT – THAT’S NOT ALL!! Since I called him from my work phone (stupid, stupid girl) he has now called me twice on my work line. Thankfully, we have a receptionist to screen calls (which means I was conveniently unavailable), so the first time he just hung up and the second he left a message. Right now I am staring at that red blinking light, afraid to see what else he has to say. Oh, hell – here goes nothing. “Press ‘P’ to play the first message” (ok) “Hey dasi, it’s Mr. South Side. Call me back, I just want to ask you something.” WHAT THE F***????? Now I’ve got the guy down the hall at my office laughing his ass off telling me I must’ve REALLY been pretty damn good to have Mr. South Side continue to be so persistent. (Ok, so yeah, I AM pretty fantastic, but PLEASE! Get over it – I AM DONE!!!)

New dilemma – do I call him back to see what he wants?

YEAH, RIGHT!!!!

Note to self: Try NOT to be so awesome at hanging out, unless you are SURE that he is the One. And even then, play it down a bit. Obviously I am too much for most guys to handle.