My Imaginary Ex (COMPLETE)

Chapter 8

Four years ago

Tim and I broke up three times over three years.

Zack's joke was that we celebrated an anniversary by breaking up. I laughed the first time he said that, and then it happened again, and it stopped being funny.

What was our problem?

I like to describe it as his superiority complex. But that was too simple. Tim was incredibly sweet, fun, and thoughtful, when he remembered to be. When he wasn't that, he was condescending.

When I first introduced him to Zack over dinner, I could tell right away that they weren't going to get along. Zack had come alone (Marjorie had to work late) and right away I saw some kind of alpha male instinct activate in Tim. I thought guys would get along instantly if you threw them together and gave them beer, but for some reason these two defied expectations.

Zack was usually good with small talk. He found a way to find something in common with people, and then kept going. He'd mention sports teams first. If that didn't work, then movies, then a TV show, then a recent big concert. Since Zack never shared stuff about his personal life, he tried to keep conversations limited to sports or pop culture.

If those didn't work, his last resort was to ask which school the person was from, and then hopefully they'd find a common friend. But he rarely used this unless he was totally comfortable and knew that he wasn't going to open a can of worms.

Tim, being a more social animal, skipped all steps and went straight for the name-dropping. "Oh, you work in _________? Do you know ________? What have you heard about _________? I heard this about __________ and maybe it's not true. Is it? Do you think ________ is worth the bonuses they give him?"

Not only that, he started to explain to Zack why I stuck around the office despite working for a boss I so disliked.

"Because she needs direction," he said, cocky smile on his face. "And he is able to give her that. He tells her what to do, and she does it well."

"That's bull," Zack retorted. "He's a micromanager and she's not learning anything from that. She doesn't have to stay with him any longer than she already has."

They both looked at me, both expecting me to agree. I smiled. "Well, I'm not quitting until I find a good replacement job."

When Tim excused himself to wash his hands, Zack leaned toward me and shook his head. "Is he always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Arrogant."

"He's not arrogant. He's...he just has a strong personality."

"And he happens to think you have a weak one."

"No he does not. Stop it." I wasn't as shy as I used to be, but compared to Type As like Tim, I sort of blended into the background.

Our dinner arrived, but Zack acted like he wasn't hungry. In fact, halfway through the dinner, he checked his phone and looked relieved when Marjorie needed him to pick her up.

"Nice meeting you, pare." Tim sent him off with a brisk handshake.

Three years ago

After my first anniversary with Tim, I realized the root of our problems. He never stopped thinking of me as the HR girl who accepted his résumé and sent him to the waiting room.

As he thrived in our office and got more and more respect, he started to see himself moving up—but didn't see me going in the same direction. He had a way of talking down to me, or talking about me that belittled what I did, and that got old quickly.