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MidReal Story
The Truth About My Girl
Scenario:When I first started dating Emmy, I thought she was perfect. Sweet, caring, and easy to be around. But over time, her mask slipped.
A year into our relationship, and she’s turned into someone I barely recognize. Arrogant, critical, and always reminding me how her ex did everything better. Every little thing I do feels like a mistake.
Tonight is no different. I’m late picking her up after her girls’ night, thanks to the traffic. The moment I see her, she’s already scowling.
“Seriously? My ex would’ve been here early—and he wouldn’t be driving a crap car like this!”
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Jamie Bennett
boyfriend, relationships with Emmy and friends, average build, brown hair, conflicted and patient
Emmy Knight
girlfriend, relationship with Jamie and friends, slender with blonde hair, initially sweet but now critical
Natalia Hayes
mutual friend of Jamie and Emmy, supportive of Jamie
I wish I could say I was surprised when Emmy and I ended up breaking up.
Looking back now, I realize it’s clear that our relationship had been heading down hill for quite a while.
At first, she was perfect.
Beautiful, sweet, caring... everything a guy could want in a girl.
But over time, she began to change.
At first, it was just little things.
She’d find ways to make small comments about me in front of our friends, or point out things that I was doing wrong.
I was patient and tried not to let it get to me.
After all, nobody’s perfect, and everybody has their bad days.
Right?
But eventually, those small comments turned into full blown criticisms.
She would tell me that I was doing everything wrong, from the way I washed the dishes to the way I loaded the laundry.
No matter what I did, it would never be good enough for her.
I set two plates of spaghetti down on the small kitchen table in my apartment, watching as Emmy inspected the food with her usual scrutiny.
She didn’t say a word, but I knew she was already finding things wrong with it.
We ate in silence, the only sound the scrape of forks against ceramic.
Finally, she couldn’t keep quiet any longer.
"Jamie, how did you make this sauce?" she asked, her voice critical.
I shrugged.
"It’s just a jarred sauce. I added some garlic and olive oil to it."
She shook her head.
"My ex made his own marinara from scratch. It was always perfect."
Something inside me snapped at that.
Setting my fork down on the table, I felt my hands trembling slightly.
Emmy, however, didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.
"Emmy, we need to talk about these constant comparisons," I said, my voice steady despite my shaking hands.
She froze mid-bite, her eyes flicking up to meet mine.
"What do you mean?"
She sounded surprised, but I could already see the anger building behind her eyes.
I stared down at my half-eaten plate of spaghetti, my appetite suddenly gone.
I knew that Emmy’s ex had been a big part of her life before we started dating, but I had no idea she was still so hung up on him.
It seemed like every time we did something, she would find a way to bring him up.
She’d tell me how he was better than me in every way, and how I should be trying harder to impress her.
It was exhausting, and it was starting to wear me down.
"Emmy, you’ve been constantly comparing me to your ex since we started dating," I said, my voice firm but controlled.
"It’s not fair to me."
She didn’t say anything for a long moment, just stared at me with her eyes narrowed.
I could see the anger building inside her, and I knew that she was probably thinking of all the ways that I fell short of her ex.
Finally, she spoke.
"Jamie, you’re just not trying hard enough. If you did things the way my ex did them, then maybe we wouldn’t have these problems."
I sighed, feeling my frustration growing.
I had heard this same speech from her countless times before, and it was getting old.
"Emmy, I’m not your ex. I can’t be him. And even if I could be him, I don’t think that would fix our problems."
She looked at me incredulously.
"What do you mean? Of course it would fix our problems. My ex never made mistakes like you do." "Emmy, everyone makes mistakes," I said gently.
"I’m sorry if I’ve let you down in some way."
She shook her head again.
"You’re just not trying hard enough. If you really cared about me, then you would do things the way my ex did them."
I felt a lump form in my throat as I realized that Emmy wasn’t going to change.
She was always going to compare me to her ex, and she was never going to be happy with me for who I am.
I stood up from the table and walked over to the sink, staring out the window at the city below.
I could feel Emmy’s eyes on me, but she didn’t say anything else.
After a few minutes, she got up from the table and left the kitchen without saying a word.
I stayed in the kitchen for a while longer, trying to process everything that had just happened.
I knew then that it was time to let go.