I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to move in together yet…
James thought that Lucy was as in love with him as he was with her, so her response to his suggestion of moving in together caught him off guard.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to live together yet!” she said.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know, we’ve only been seeing each other for six months. It feels too soon…”
“Too soon? Darling, I think it’s the perfect time. We can live together, get to know each other better, and who knows, maybe move to the next stage.”
“James, this isn’t a video game; this is real life. Right now, there’s no room for cohabitation in my life, but that doesn’t mean I don’t value what we have. I’m just content with the way things are.”
“But I want more! I want to wake up with you every morning. I want to fall asleep beside you. Don’t you want that?”
“But we do that already. Twice a week, remember? Isn’t that enough?”
“It’s not enough for me!”
“Well, if you love me, you’ll have to be patient for now.”
“I can be patient if you give me a reason! Why don’t you want to? Explain it to me! Is it that hard?”
Lucy thought for a bit, then smiled at him, deciding it was worth discussing in more detail.
“James, let’s be honest. What does living with a woman mean to you?”
“I already said, falling asleep and waking up together!”
“And in between?”
“In what sense?” he didn’t get it.
“There are twenty-four hours in a day, remember? You’re only talking about night and early morning, but what about the rest of the time?”
“But most of the rest of the time, we’re both at work! Aren’t we?”
“Why? For instance, we’d have dinner or breakfast together, right?”
“Hopefully!”
“And who’s going to cook?”
“You don’t know how to cook!” guessed James, having concluded this foolishly enough, despite having eaten her meals many times.
“I do know how to cook!”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“Who will cook? You or me?”
“Well, sometimes you and sometimes me, maybe. Why are you so worried about this?”
“James, because I don’t want to turn my life into a monotonous cycle like some of my friends! I don’t want to wake up early to make breakfast for someone. I don’t want to rush from work to go shopping, carry groceries home, and spend two hours cooking dinner!”
“But you sometimes cook when you stay at my place, don’t you? I thought you liked it…”
James looked a bit frustrated. Does this mean his girlfriend is lazy?
“I enjoy cooking, but I’m not ready to do it every day. I like coming home, whipping up a quick salad, and that’s it. I like that we meet up twice a week, sometimes more. That’s enough for me! Maybe someday I’ll want more, but not now!”
“You just don’t love me enough!” declared James.
“Here we go…”
“What? Isn’t that it? When a woman loves someone, she’s ready to do anything for him!”
“And what about the man? Is he ready to do anything for her?”
“Of course!”
“Okay then, let’s live together, BUT – all household responsibilities will be split equally. Everyone cleans up after themselves, we cook in turns, and each of us does our own laundry. How does that sound?”
“But I’m not a great cook. You said so yourself!”
“All the more reason to learn. You can’t always eat pizza or burgers. I can help you learn!”
“I just don’t get it, is it really that hard? Then why isn’t it hard for others? Are you special or something?” persisted James.
“If that’s how you want to think of it, sure. I’m special. I’m not ready to sacrifice my personal life for love. Not right now. I’m only twenty-three. I want to savor my freedom!”
“Oh, I get it! You’ve got another guy!” concluded James unexpectedly.
“Why would I need one?” Lucy didn’t understand.
“Well, if you don’t want to live with me, he must mean more to you!”
“Your imaginary man is more important to me?” she chuckled.
“Your imaginary man! Why would I make up a bloke for myself?”
“Ah, so you don’t need a bloke, so you made one up for me, right?”
“You’ve got me all confused!” he almost shouted.
“Because you’re talking nonsense! I don’t have anyone else! Sometimes even you are too much, which is why I don’t want to live together! I love my solitude and am not ready to give it up. Not yet!”
“How can you love solitude when you’re in a relationship?” James was surprised.
“Very easily. Are there things you like to do when no one else is around?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, read a book, watch a show, take a bath, scroll through social media, try on clothes from the closet, dance in the dark!”
“Guys don’t do that stuff!” he objected.
“But girls do! And I like it! I’m not ready to give up the simple pleasures of single life!”
“But there are plenty of joys in living together too!” James persisted.
“Like what?”
“Falling asleep and waking up together!” he repeated himself.
“James, you do realize you snore like a tractor, right?”
“What? You never mentioned it! And no one else complained!”
“Well, I can’t say for the others, but since you got punched on the nose by Bill at the BBQ a few months ago, you’ve started snoring terribly. And by the way, I did tell you! I can put up with it a couple of times a week, but not every day! I’d like to get some proper sleep once in a while too.”
“You can’t sleep well next to me?”
“Only when I manage to fall asleep before you do!”
“But you usually go to bed later than me…”
“Exactly my point!”
“So, I snore, I don’t cook, I’m not suitable for cohabitation then?”
“And as it turns out, you’re quite the bore!” she couldn’t hold back.
“Why am I a bore?”
“You’ve been trying to convince me to do something I fundamentally don’t want to do for the past half an hour. What else would you call that?”
“Lucy, I was actually thinking of marrying you! That’s why I suggested living together!” he said, feeling hurt.
“Did I ever say I want to get married?” she smiled sadly.
“Don’t you? All girls want to get married!”
“Well, not all apparently…”
“Or maybe you just don’t want to marry me?” he realized.
“I don’t want to marry anyone, but if we’re talking your terms, what could you offer your future wife? Waking up and falling asleep together?”
“Are you saying I’m a nobody?” James felt offended. “That I can’t do anything?”
“You’re nearly thirty. You earn £2000 a month, you live in your uncle’s rundown flat to avoid paying rent, you shop at budget stores. You don’t even want a car because it needs to be maintained.”
“Listening to you, I’m quite the catch! Then why did you even date me?”
Lucy shrugged.
“You’re handsome, well-built, funny, and a great lover.”
“Good for your health?”
“And for the soul!”
“But we won’t have a family then!”
“Not until you grow up, that’s for sure!”
“Great! Then my proposal is off the table! And you know what? I’ll tell you even more! We’re breaking up!”
“Really?” Lucy asked sarcastically. “I thought you’d never suggest it! Goodbye then?” she said, waving her hand to remind him they were having this argument in her apartment.
“Goodbye!” he declared proudly, pulling on his trousers. “Or rather, farewell!”
“So, farewell!” she said with a smile and tossed him his T-shirt.
James left, and Lucy turned on the music, turned off the lights, and started dancing. It always helped soothe her nerves and regain her positive outlook. She knew he’d probably come back in a day or two, but if she’d let him in? That was another question altogether.
