Get it over with. You know what you need to do, and the longer you wait the harder it will be

Dassi woke up feeling no less settled than she had been the night before. She’d barely slept; Ari had dropped her off at her parents’ house, and she’d been so disconcerted that her mother had suggested she sleep in her old room, just for a night. And why go back out in that horrible rain anyway?

As she paced her bedroom, she kept seeing Ari demanding her rain jacket and then wrapping his hat in it. All the murky what ifs were pounding in her head. She wasn’t sure what it was about the incident that disturbed her so much, but one question echoed loudly: Could she live with him for the rest of her life?

She’d finally given up pacing and called Shira to hesitantly tell her what happened. Just giving herself permission to tell Shira and ask for her advice again felt like a step in the right direction. “So…” she finished her tale, the stress and worry and confusion all coming through, “what do you think I should do?”

Shira sighed audibly through the phone. “Dass,” she said, “I think you know what needs to be done.”

Dassi’s stomach had squeezed horribly at those words. She did know. And it wasn’t even new, she’d known it for a while, but it didn’t make it any easier.

“Text him,” Shira had advised. “And tell him you need to meet to talk. When you talk to him, don’t leave any room open for negotiation. Be clear and firm. Repress your natural need to avoid confrontation. In this type of situation, you can’t be nice at the expense of being honest.”

“I’m not worried about being nice,” Dassi had said grimly. “I’m worried….” She’d trailed off.

“About how he’ll react?” Shira had prompted, softly.

Didn’t that just sum it all up?