The Opposite of Love Read Online Free PDF

Plus I’ve had to counsel plenty of girlfriends who were in your same position doing exactly what you’re doing.”
    “Ok. But when was the last time you were in a relationship?”
    Melanie paused at the stove, stared at the diamond-shaped tiles on the backsplash. “I guess that would be Joel.”
    “I remember him. He seemed cool. How long were you guys together?”
    “Two years.”
    “How come you broke up?”
    “It’s complicated.”
    “Meaning you don’t want to talk about it.” Jen sat back and crossed her arms over her chest.
    “No. I can talk about it.” Melanie slid a plate of food across the breakfast bar and sat down with her own. “Joel wanted to settle down and have a family and my career was taking off. I couldn’t just abandon what I’d worked for to sit at home and become a baby factory.”
    “Well what about now? You’ve got the time now, don’t you?”
    This was true. Through a series of well-timed and high-profile successes, Melanie had gone from a high-paying job as a real estate executive to a mid-six-figure job as a real estate marketing consultant. She’d replaced a nine-to-five day with an open and undemanding schedule, and she could pick and choose her own projects and write her own ticket. Instead of dealing with office politics and backstabbing agents, she flew to the occasional conference to give a lecture on marketing. Articles had been written in the trades and in mainstream media on the subject of her exceptional instincts and her reputation for placating tough clients, and she would often pepper her sessions with anecdotes on troublesome multi-millionaire buyers or tips on predicting market trends, well aware that this was what people really came for.
    “I’ve got time, yes. But I’m not with Joel anymore. And I’m still not enamored with the idea of being a stay-at-home mom like Sarah.”
    “Don’t you want to have kids at all?”
    Melanie shrugged and munched her toast. At thirty-seven years old, it was starting to look like it wasn’t in the cards for her. She had always had a focus and clarity to her life’s path that made decisions relating to career and relationships automatic and downright simple. No regrets. No looking back. But the idea of being a mother was different. It had never been a sure thing for her because she had never prioritized it. She’d left that one to the universe to decide and it had simply never happened.
    “Why don’t you see if Joel’s still interested? How long ago did you guys split?”
    “Four years ago. He got married last year.” Melanie cocked her head at her sister. “And what’s it to you anyway?”
    “Just curious. So how come you haven’t been in a relationship in the past four years?”
    “I’ve dated,” Melanie said. “Just haven’t met the right guy.”
    “What was wrong with the guys you dated?”
    “Ok, that’s enough. You just worry about getting over Justin and leave my love life alone.”
    Since Joel, Melanie had started to seek out relationships with men she considered her equal, not out of a sense of parity, but to limit the temptation to lean on each other. During college, she’d heard her girlfriends talk about finding a guy with a lucrative career ahead of him so as to support them, and she’d wondered why they were pursuing a rather lofty education with no plans to use it. Even her older sister Sarah, with her PhD in psychology, had always just wanted to get married to someone who could support her so she could have babies. Melanie had never wanted to rely on anyone else. She never trusted a man to hold up his end of the agreement. She’d seen girlfriends get left with bills, rent and evictions just as often as she’d seen them lean on partners who were willing to help carry the load. But she wasn’t keen on rolling the dice and seeing which one she got. She dated, of course, and she had quite a good time of it. But when it came to relying on a man, she abstained, never believing that someone