This was an assignment for my Editing for Publication class at UNCW, the assignment being that we had to use semi-colons and colons in ten different ways.

“I’m so glad to see you; it’s been, what, three years?” Marissa says, peering over her glasses in a monotone.

Even though Mark just sat down, he readjusts himself. He feels awkward; after all, this is the first time seeing his ex-fiancé since she broke off their engagement to travel and “find herself”; it was as if she woke up one day and decided at 22 that she really didn’t know who she was. When Mark got the call from Marissa last week stating she was back in the country and wanted to see him, he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Honestly, he was still hurting from the break up: they had been together all throughout high school and college.

“Yeah,” he finally replies. “That’s what happens when you move across the world.”

Nope, Mark wasn’t bitter at all.

Marissa slowly picks up her coffee.

“Okay, I deserve that,” she says, sighing. Wanting to move on, she asks, “How have you been? What have you been up to?”

If Mark were to answer this honestly, he would say that he hasn’t dated anybody seriously since her, since nobody else was good enough; that he had to move back in with his parents for a year, due to being too depressed to work and not being able to pay rent; that he had to start attending weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, if not daily; that it may have been three years, but it feels like only three days.

“I’ve been good,” he lies. “I started working at my dad’s friend’s company doing some cyber security.”

“That’s wonderful!” Marissa says, continuing to hold on to her cup with both hands. “Where are you living now? Are you rooming with anyone?”

Is this supposed to be Marissa’s way of asking if I’m seeing anybody? Mark wonders. After talking to his best friend, Drew, Mark decided that he wasn’t going to get back together with Marissa if she wanted, and that he had to be straight forward with her; however, he didn’t know if that’s where she was going with the question, so he didn’t know if he had to say anything yet.

“I’m living with Drew right now, actually,” Mark answers. “I’m going to have to start looking for a new place soon, though.”

“Why’s that?” Marissa asks.

This was what Mark didn’t want to mention: marriage. Drew had finally proposed to his girlfriend, and while Mark was happy for him, it reminded him of how he proposed to Marissa, which he really didn’t like to think about. He also really didn’t want to bring up the topic of marriage or proposing with her.

Mark decides not to answer the question and instead asks, “Where all did you go while you were in Europe?”

Marissa smiles, obviously excited to talk about her travels.

“Oh, I lived in the following places: Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, Rome, Stockholm, Dublin, Munich, and Moscow,” she says. “Those are the bigger cities, at least. I stayed in a lot of smaller towns, too, to get the most out of living in Europe. I maybe only stayed a month or two in each place. Except for Paris; I stayed there for half a year.”

Mark nods as though he’s actually interested when, in reality, he doesn’t care. Europe was the reason Marissa left; why would he actually want to hear about this?

“I’m glad you enjoyed your time there,” he says. “Sounds like you got the most out of it.”

Meanwhile, I’ve been over here in Charlotte working on putting myself back together by sobering up, working my ass off at the office, and going to therapy, Mark thinks.

Marissa finally sets her coffee cup down. “So, I know you’re probably still upset with me over how I ended things…”

Mark scoffs and crosses his arms.

“That’s an understatement,” he says.

“But,” Marissa continues, “I was thinking we could pick things back up where we left off. I’m staying with my sister right now, so I need a place, too. I know it would probably be too fast for you, but maybe we could move back in with each other? Start over?”

Shit. So that was where she was going with this, Mark thinks.

Mark takes a deep breath, deciding to be brutally honest with her.

“Listen here, Mars: we aren’t going to pick it back up or start over or whatever,” he says. “You really fucked with me, and I just can’t deal with that, okay? It doesn’t matter if you know who you are now and you’re ready to settle down, or that we have our eight years of history and you can’t see yourself with anyone else. You fucked up by breaking off the engagement and moving to Europe.”

Marissa opens her mouth to reply, but Mark interjects.

“I really can’t deal with that again,” he repeats.

Marissa, who looks like she’s about to cry, stands slowly.

“I should go,” she says, fixing her glasses.

Mark nods and gestures towards the door.

“Yeah, you really should.”