Sorry, Wrong Number!

The Break up and the new friend

The break up went exactly as Harry had thought it would. Cho had expected dinner out at the pub where they met, but he had decided to break it off with her as soon as he saw her. There was no point in dragging it out, after all.

"I thought I'd hear from you last night," she began, pouting prettily.

Harry remembered the phone call he had had last night. "Er, yeah, sorry, been busy at work," he replied. He was a low level architect that specialised in designing energy efficient homes.

"So, have you thought any more about what we last talked about?" she asked hopefully. The bar tender chose that moment to place their drinks on the table, and Cho picked hers up and began sipping, all the while looking at him expectantly.

"Why don't we finish our drinks and go for a walk, it's a nice night in London," suggested Harry. "Find somewhere quiet, where we can be alone."

She giggled. "We can go back to my flat, if you like?" she offered. "Marietta, my flat mate, is away for the weekend."

He was tempted, only because it was somewhere private and Cho wouldn't have to worry about making her way home after he broke up with her. But before he could agree, she leaned over and kissed him, tasting of the too-sweet cocktail she had just drank.

"I got some sexy new underwear," she whispered, before sitting back and taking another sip.

He reddened. She was hinting at sex and and was planning to break up with her. This wasn't right. He needed to rip this bandaid off right now.

"Iwannabreakup," he blurted. "itstoofast, toosoon."

Cho stared at him; his rambling unclear. "Pardon?"

He took a breath. "I want to break up. Things are moving too fast. Sorry, but I don't want you to move in with me. I like my space. I'm busy with work."

"I see," she replied. Calmly she picked up her drink and sipped.

He waited. She set her drink down and looked around the pub, turning back to him with glistening eyes. "It's me, isn't it?" she finally asked, in a timid voice.

He decided honesty was the best policy. "Yes. I thought we were just casual dating, nothing serious. Having fun, you know?" He decided not to mention the girl he'd been eyeing off in his local cafe, the one he saw every Thursday morning.

She stared at him, the tears spilling out her eyes and running down her cheeks. "I thought you were different," she sniffed.

"Different from who?" he asked, confused.

"All the other stupid men out there," she gestured loudly. "Scared of a little commitment. I should have known once we'd shagged that –"

"Sssh," hissed Harry, glancing around at those seated near them. The men who had overheard looked sympathetic but the women were throwing him dark looks. He smiled his crooked smile at them, the one his mother told him made him look irresistable.

The women all scowled at him.

" -key back?" asked Cho.

He scrambled to think of what she had just said. "Huh?"

Cho looked at him in annoyance. "I said, I suppose you want your key back?"