Survive

“I need you,” Angela sobbed.
“You don’t. You’re better off without me.”
“I need you to survive.”
“Oh, stop being so goddamn dramatic Angela,” Adam snapped.
Adam’s eyes darted around the cafe they were sat in. Although it was a fairly spacious cafe, it felt too small with the stuffy men and women in their expensive suits along with their snobby attitude and massive egos. The cafe was situated downtown where Angela and her family lived in which was very different to the rundown part of the town where Adam lived with his mother and younger brother.
Adam glanced down at her manicured nails and sighed. He was doing it for the best.
“How am I being overdramatic? I’ve known you since we were kids. We’re 22 years old now. I’ve known you for more than half of all the years I’ve lived on this Earth. I don’t know anything other than you. I don’t know anything! All I know is you. I need you.”
“I’m doing this for the both of us. We need space to grow. I love you but I need to see what this life has to offer me without you…always being there.”
“So the problem is me? Am I too clingy? I promise I’ll back off. I won’t call you if you don’t want me to. I’ll text you less. We can cut down on the amount of times we meet up. I’ll give you all the space you want but please…don’t leave me.”
“It’s not you. It’s us. It’s the entire relationship.”
“I thought you were happy with us. You’ve never given me any indication that you were unhappy. What’s suddenly changed? You’ve never brought this up before. You were fine just the other day. I just don’t understand,” Angela said visibly upset.
They sat staring at one another, Adam trying to rack his brain to come up with a good enough excuse. He winced when he saw tears flowing down her cheeks steadily. If only she knew the truth.
“Adam, you are the single best thing in my entire life,” Angela was speaking rapidly now, stumbling over her words. “If I hadn’t met you, I’d be like the rest of them.” She slowly scanned the room. “I’d be exactly like my mum, I’d be exactly like my dad, I’d be exactly like my sister, I’d be exactly like everyone in this fxcking part of town! But you’ve shown me the pleasure in the simple things in life. You’ve shown me how to enjoy myself without spending money. You’ve taught me that love and company is better than material things. You’ve taught me not to be a stuck up, arrogant bxtch, you’ve taught me to relax and chill out. You’ve taught me to explore and go out on adventures. You’ve taught me to be free and to not give a shxt about society’s expectations and that there’s more to life than appearances and I know I’m still obsessed with my hair and my nails and the latest designer dresses but I swear I would give it up in a heartbeat if that means I wouldn’t lose you.”
Adam held in tears. He didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to break her heart. This would be the most painful thing he has ever done. But he had to do it. He had no other choice.
“Angela, I love you. I promise I do. But I’m also in love with another girl. That’s the truth. That’s the only truth. There’s not a single thing wrong with you. I promise you, you are absolutely perfect the way you are. You don’t need to change but you need to move on without me now.”
Adam broke apart inside when he saw the look on Angela’s face. Time slowed down, and all he could hear was his own heartbeat and all he could see was her face. It would haunt him for a long time. Angela grabbed her bag and ran out the cafe.

Adam sat in the cafe for a good hour with his hands in head until one of the waitresses asked him if he was okay with genuine concern written all over her face. He.walked out the cafe feeling completely and utterly distraught but was suddenly greeted with the devil himself.
“Now that’s a good boy.”
Adam turned to face the tall man standing in front of him. Late fifties, greying hair, but the exact same eyes as Angela’s.
“I hope you’re happy with yourself,” Adam all but snarled angrily at the man in front of him. “I hope you’re happy that you’ve broken your daughter’s heart.”
“Oh don’t you worry Adam, she’ll get over you soon enough. I’ll make sure of that. A pathetic weasel like you, more than easy to replace. I know wealthy businessmen with young, handsome sons who would make an honourable woman out of my daughter and also help me with my business ventures. You bring absolutely nothing to the table Adam.”
“I know that you don’t care about me – you’ve made it perfectly clear over these past few month although I must say you are a brilliant actor.” Adam clapped his hands slowly. “You managed to fool me for 12 years of my life that you are a decent man who cared about me.”
David sighed. “I do care about you Adam.”
“Oh so you threatening me, treating me like dirt and stalking me for the past few months. Is that what you call caring?”
“When I told you nicely, you wouldn’t listen, you wouldn’t back off from my daughter. What did you expect me to do? I had to play dirty.”
“But how can you sleep tonight knowing that you’ve taken away the love of your daughter’s life. You’ve completely shattered her. She thinks I don’t care about her. She thinks I love someone else. She’s so fxcking sensitive. She’s never going to get over this. I know her inside and out. She’s never going to move on. I can’t believe you’ve made me do this to her. You should feel disgusted with yourself. Using your daughter to expand your business and treating me like dirt. Don’t you feel disgusted with yourself?” Adam was genuinely curious and this shocked David.
David looked down to the ground, his face coloured slightly with shame. After a pause which felt like an eternity, David spoke.
“Listen Adam, I know you’re a good boy, there’s no denying that. And I know it was wrong of me to threaten you these past few months. I seriously did not want to do this. You’ve been like a son, I’ve welcomed you into my house and my wife absolutely adores you, but I just can’t, I won’t allow my daughter to end up with someone like you. I’m sorry but that’s the harsh truth.”
Adam threw a disgusted look David’s way. “The was a reason why my mum said to stay away from people like you. There’s only one thing that you care about and that’s yourself.”