Petals and Plot Twists (Only Magic in the Building)

by Jenny Proctor

I speak all my feelings out loud the minute they pop into my brain.

In my lowest moments, I’m convinced there’s something wrong with me.

As she once so aptly described, my ick detector is broken. The red flags most women sense on the first date don’t even register for me. Not until I’m at least four or five dates in.

I’m generally comfortable with my own company, so I don’t often think about putting myself out there.

I always feel a pang of sadness that with modern technology, we all have fewer reasons to spend time in libraries.

“I trust the magic to take care of me.

It’s always been Peter for me. He’s always been my safety net.

“Even if you aren’t over it,” he says, “it’s okay. It sucks. You don’t have to pretend like it doesn’t suck.”

But sometimes I look at my mom and wonder how I ever came from her. No one has ever made being beautiful look so effortless.

I don’t need a second dessert. But I do need to feed my denial.

“Every time my world falls apart, he’s the one who makes me okay again.

I wish I knew how to trust my own heart, but if I have a security blanket, I’m going to use it.

“You know,” Chad says, “there are a lot of reasons why women should be counting macros too. It isn’t just about building muscle.”

BYE NOPE RED FLAG KICK HIM

“Peter, my relationships don’t work,” Sophie says. “We know this about me.” “They haven’t worked in the past,” I say gently. “But maybe that’s because you were never with the right guy. I’m in this for life, Soph. We really only need one relationship to work, right? Why not this one?”

“Love is never a guarantee, but I’m not sure it’s supposed to be. It’s an action.

Maybe I don’t need the flower to bloom for Peter. Maybe this really is good enough for me to lean in and trust it. If there’s anyone in this world I can trust to keep my heart safe, it’s him. But can he trust me with his?

I just want to be around him. I want to be with him.

What if I’m not—and never have been—destined to be her one true love?

That boy looked at you like you were the sun, moon and stars all at once.”

I do deserve the biggest, brightest, best kind of love. And I know exactly where to find it.

You needed to believe in yourself more than you believed in the flower.

know, with sudden clarity, that if I have the opportunity to spend the rest of my life with this woman, I’ll take it no matter where I have to live to do it.

You’re my home.

You aren’t my backup plan, Peter. You’re my main plan. My only plan.”

The happiness and assurance in my own heart is all the sign I need that Peter is my happily-ever-after.

“This way, the flower is always in bloom for us,”

“I’m never throwing this away. My first love note from my first love.” His eyes meet mine. “First, huh?” I shrug. “It’s only ever been you.”

We took our destiny into our own hands. Love isn’t magic, it’s an action. And we’re doing the work of loving each other.”

“Loving you isn’t work, Sophie. It’s like breathing.”