Page 169 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

They just knew I was dating someone. That was it.

They never saw how deeply he got into me—how quickly he became part of my routines, my future, my sense of safety.

And that was what made it worse.

Because heartbreak without witness made you question your own pain.

So instead of talking about it, I disappeared into it.

I stopped going out, answering calls, and posting online.

Even eating started feeling optional.

Sleep became strange too.

Some nights I slept too much because being unconscious felt easier than being awake. Other nights I barely slept at all because my mind kept replaying him like a punishment.

And work? God! It became impossible.

Calls would come in through my headset and I’d stare at the screen, frozen, unable to press accept.

My KPIs dropped so badly that eventually, I stopped checking them altogether.

The truth was, I couldn’t function anymore.

And eventually, the company noticed.

One afternoon, my supervisor tapped lightly against my back and said, “James, manager wants to see you.”

My stomach dropped instantly. I already knew.

Inside the office, the manager talked about the metrics, compliance, productivity… abandoned calls.

“We also reviewed multiple incidents where calls were left unattended while you remained available in the system.”

I swallowed hard at that, because I knew that alone was already a terminable offense.

Still, I pleaded—I hated how desperate I sounded that day.

I told them I was dealing with personal problems. That I could improve. That I just needed a little time to get myself together.

But my manager only sighed softly and told me the decision had already been made.

They were letting me go.

Just like that.

Replaceable.

Easy to abandon.

Not enough.

Another ending for me. Another thing slipping out of my hands while I stood there, unable to stop it.

I nodded because I didn’t trust myself to do anything else.

But inside, something collapsed, because heartbreak was already swallowing me whole. And now, suddenly, I my future felt uncertain too.