A Big Kind of Little Love

Chapter 1: Evie

"I'm sorry, Evie. I just don't think this is going to work out."

The sentence stabbed through Evie like a knife. This was her fourth date with Olivia, and she was convinced that this would be the relationship that finally got off the ground. Evie hadn't had much luck with dating in her life. In her 25 years, she hadn't been in any serious relationships. This was the furthest she had gotten with a partner in her life. But with one sentence she was shot down from her high.

"W- why?" Evie asked, completely thrown off by Olivia's admittance.

"Because, Evie," she began to say, clearly annoyed that Evie was pushing back. "You— you're—"

"I'm what?" Evie asked with teary eyes, cutting the girl off.

"You're immature, Evie!" Olivia nearly shouted for the whole cafe to hear. "I feel like I'm talking to a kid with you. You can barely hold a job, you hardly know how to care for yourself, you don't have any friends. You still sleep with stuffed animals for crying out loud!"

Evie was stunned by the woman's brutal honesty. She knew all of these things already, she didn't need Olivia to tell her. Evie had a job at a grocery store, but she had told Olivia about management's issues with her forgetting her responsibilities and being late to work. But having her insecurities announced by someone she thought was attracted to her brought the shame to a new level. She wanted so badly to curl up into a ball and hide away from Olivia and the onlookers who were laughing and mumbling to themselves about the sudden outburst.

Trying her best to maintain a composed face, Evie sank back into her chair, refusing to look Olivia in the eye. Seeing the upset that she caused, Olivia tried to console the clearly shaken girl who was sitting across from her.

"I thought you liked me," Evie mumbled, keeping her head faced down towards her hands in her lap.

"I do like you, Evie. But I only like you as... an adult. I don't want to have to take care of your every need. I'm not your mom. I don't think there's a human being alive who wants to do that."

Olivia chuckled a little bit following that last sentence. Evie couldn't bring herself to do the same. She remained still, her hands fidgeting in her lap.

"I'm sorry, Evie," Olivia said, cutting through the silence, "I shouldn't have been so blunt with it. But what I said, it was true. I feel like you just need to... I don't know... grow up a little bit."

Evie's only response was a solemn nod, eyes still fixed downwards. Olivia let out a deep exhale, as though she had been carrying the weight of this conversation all day before the two had met at the cafe.

"I hope you can find what you're looking for. I really do," Olivia said as she stood from her seat, "Goodbye, Evie."

Watching as Olivia left the cafe and walked out of sight, Evie felt empty. She didn't even feel the embarrassment of having basically been called a child in front of a dozen other people. She was numb.

Heartbroken, Evie was finally able to garner the willpower to make her way to her feet and out of the cafe. Cars whizzed by in the busy city streets as people walked in seemingly all directions. But she didn't even feel the chaos around her. The buzz of the city's life-force was halted before it entered her body like it normally did. She felt a scary stillness within herself that was completely out of place in an environment like this.

Walking vaguely in the direction of her apartment, Evie found herself in unfamiliar parts of the city; still very much chaotic and busy, but alien to her nonetheless. She skimmed over the new storefronts, which all looked similar to those you'd find anywhere else in the city. But one did catch her attention as she walked.