Can we talk?

Alice spots four dogs on her way into Boris and Horton and knows she’s picked the right place. Guess it’s known as the dog lover’s coffee shop for good reason, she thinks to herself as she waits in line for a latte. Alice doesn’t have a dog, but she figures being surrounded by them might bring a little levity to the morose conversation she may soon be having.

It was last night when Jack first texted her asking to talk. She ignored it and went about her evening as planned. But his second text, sent about 18 hours later as Alice did her laundry, changed her mind.

“Hey, I just wanted to get some closure, please can we talk? I can meet you wherever.”

Closure. The word hit the spot for Alice. Yes, she thought, it is indeed time to put the Jack era behind her. So, she told him the time and place and showed up fifteen minutes early; it was nice to have some time to herself before he inevitably shows up right on time.

As Jack ambles in, Alice offers a hug before they sit down, which he eagerly accepts.  He looks disheveled, and he doesn’t smell much better. When was the last time he showered?

"So, closure huh? Good word. Got my attention."
"Thanks," he chuckles a little.
"So what's up?"
"How have you been?"

Before Alice can answer, a Pomeranian on an extra-strong leash approaches her.

"Hiiii! Aren't you the cutest little thing I've ever seen? Yes, you are, yes, you are. Awwww...Uh, I've been good, ya know, trying to move on." The Pomeranian moves on to Jack, but he doesn't show any interest. The Pomeranian leaves.
"How have you been?"
"Not good..."
"Oh."

"You breaking up with me...really fucked with me. But you seem fine."
"I'm going through it too, in my own little way. I mean, when you spend the better part of three years with someone, it's never easy."
"So you're struggling too?"
"In my own way."
"Because I've heard some things."
"Excuse me?" Alice is startled. By the insidious question, sure, but mainly by the Maltese on no leash who is now sprinting her way to say hi. "Oh my god! Aren't you the cutest little thing I ever did see!" She picks up the little guy and he licks her face. "Aww, thank you, I love you too." She puts him down and he now takes a stab at Jack. But he shows no interest and the Maltese scampers away.

"Yeah, so anyway, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Jack continues to pry.
“What are you implying?”
“Some friends told me you’ve started dating again? Is that true?”

Alice knew this was coming, but she still doesn’t know how she wants to respond. After a brief pause that feels like an eternity, she decides to rip the Band-Aid off.

"Yeah, so?"
"Yeah, so? That’s all you have to say?”
“Well, yeah. Not that it’s any of your business. But last night, when you first texted me, I didn’t answer because I was seeing someone.”
“Jesus, you’re fucking murdering me!"
"What do you want me to do? Sit at home and wallow? I don't have time to waste."
"But don't you care about me? Or how that would make me feel?"

Just then a massive Golden Retriever comes over to Jack, sensing his gloom, to cheer him up. Jack ignores him, and the dog moves on to Alice.

"Oh my god, hiiiiiii! You're so big and fluffy, yes, you are, yes, you are." She pets the dog and the dog proceeds to sit by her. Alice’s affection turns to outrage once she turns back to Jack.
"Dude, don't talk to me about care. I may have broken up with you, but this is the most interest you have shown in our relationship in months, years maybe. Like you weren't bitching to all your friends about me all the fucking time. You didn't want to be in it either."
"I did! I really did!"
"Well, that's not how it felt to me. You were the one that was always gone, I was the one that was always available. You kept me at arm's length, I was the one crying."
The Retriever nuzzles his little head against Alice's leg. "I know bb, don't worry, Mommy is just a little angry right now, we will be okay."
"Well, I'm the one crying right now."
"Aww, good riddance."
"Good riddance? My life is falling apart, and you...you're just back to normal? Like we never happened?"
"What the fuck—sorry for cursing big guy, Mommy has to use big girl words now—where the fuck do you get off? Once we are done, we are done. Over, finished, done. Never gonna happen again. So I moved on, honestly a lot quicker than I imagined, for sure, but I moved on. Like what's the point? I've already shed all the tears when I was in the relationship, there are no tears left."

A Chihuahua comes up to Jack, again sending his sadness, but once again he doesn't have the time. But she decides to sit and wait, knowing that Jack might need her services soon.

"Have you...ya know...had sex with someone else?"

Alice looks at the Golden Retriever next to her leg. "This mother fucker, right?" She focuses her attention squarely on Jack. "What is it to you if I have or I haven't? We are on our own now, we broke up. That means you are on your own and I am on my own. We both can do whatever the fuck we want. That's what a breakup is. If we were both happy with the way things were, we wouldn't have broken up. But we did, so now I have to try to find that happiness elsewhere. My advice to you is to do the same, as soon as humanly possible."
"Three years!" Yells Jack. The Chihuahua barks. "Sorry," Jack apologizes. "Three years we spent together. How can I just, in a month, get up and move on? I can't even imagine it. And now you're dating—and probably fucking—again while I can't even get out of bed. It isn't fucking fair. Don't you care about me? Don't you care about what we had?"

Two other dogs come to their table and take a seat, sensing the tenseness of their conversation, ever present to simultaneously comfort and keep the peace if things were to get out of hand.

Alice takes a pause to gather her thoughts. This question hits her like a ton of bricks. She has been on the other side of this before. When she broke up with someone only to have them, the asshole jerk, move on too quickly for comfort. Now she's the asshole jerk.

Wait…no she’s not!

"I'm done caring. Where has caring ever gotten me? No, seriously, where the fuck has caring ever gotten me? Do I care about you as a human being? Sure. Just as much as any other human being. But I'm done being overly kind to people who bring me sadness and anger in return. Whatever we had, we had it when we had it, but day by day, it is becoming less and less of a reality and more and more a memory. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but someone has to move on before everyone can move on. Maybe that makes me an asshole...fine, I'm cool with it. Because I've been the person who cares, who gets sad, who cries, who can't get out of bed, I really have. All I've learned is that if you spend your life caring about people who don't care about you, you will waste your life, so I'm done doing that. I'm done caring."
"But...."
"But nothing. We had what we had, and now it's over. You can waste your time deliberating whose fault it is and who did what and what went wrong. I'm done with that. For me, it's over, time to move on. My advice to you is to take your time to grieve and move on. Stop wasting your life caring about people, and I can't emphasize this enough, who aren't thinking about you at all...and maybe start appreciating the ones who do while they do it. Goodbye, Jack."

How's that for closure!

Alice hugs the Retriever on her leg and gives him a kiss. She stands and pets all the other dogs at their table that have been so patiently supporting their conversation. She picks up what's left of her coffee and walks out of the shop.

Jack sits at the table fighting back tears. He takes the Chihuahua and puts her in his lap, tears flowing from his face now. The Chihuahua stands on his leg and proceeds to lick the tears away.