Would not recommend

« The owner tries too hard while simultaneously doing a shitty job. » 1 star.

Rereading the review for a thousandth time didn’t lessen the impact. The words didn’t really make sense but Lizzy had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly what they meant. After a lifetime of social anxiety and control issues, she knew how she tended to overcompensate and chat peoples’ ears off. She also couldn’t bring herself to ask for help so she could focus on the part of the business she was capable of: the baking. « Well what did you expect? » asked her boyfriend from behind her. She could hear the eye-roll in his voice. Crap. She forgot Andrew was coming over. She hadn’t heard him come in; who knew how long he’d been standing there. After composing herself and setting her face in a casually sweet complexion, Lizzy turned around and walked towards him. « Hey babe, I didn’t hear you come in. Do you want to order dinner? What do you think about Chinese » she asked, hoping she didn’t seem too annoyed by his presence. After a few more tries, he declared that he’d like a fancy stuck up dish from an expensive seafood restaurant. Lizzy added it to the order and then started looking at the menu for something she could eat that didn’t contain seafood. She was contemplating a burger that she knew wouldn’t be good, but something in her brain stopped her. This was her limit, where she would make her stand. It seemed trivial and like it wasn’t much of a stand, but she was getting what she wanted. She placed the order, then went back to looking at the Chinese place she had wanted from the beginning. She took a deep breath and placed her order. While she was still looking at her phone and the order confirmations, Andrew looked up and saw the phone still in her hand and sighed loudly. « Will you hurry up, I need to eat something. ». « I ordered yours first, then I ordered mine, I was just checking the ETA for both » she said, rolling her eyes. « Wait, you ordered separately? That’s ridiculous Lizzy, they are both coming from the same restaurant. You know something is going to get screwed up that way, why would you do something so irresponsibly wasteful? » he demanded. Lizzy felt a familiar sting in her eyes, but she wasn’t about to let him see her cry. « No, » she explained calmly, «I didn’t want to eat anything in the menu there, so I ordered Chinese for myself. » « Why would you do that!? Ordering from two different restaurants instead of finding something on the menu I ordered from? If that is going to be your response to those kind of situations, you are going to be a terrible mother, » he growled. « Then I guess it’s a good thing I’ve decided not to have children! » she snapped back. Andrew rolled his eyes and gave her his best condescending face. Being 7 years older and a psychiatrist made him think he was the authority on every topic they discussed. Putting his hands on her shoulders he said « sweetie, I know you’ll change your mind when you’re older, you don’t know what you want. » Lizzy took a deep breath, stepped out of his grasp, and looked him in the eye before calmly informing him « actually, I know exactly what I want. I want you out. Out of my face, out of my home, and out of my life. Clearly I need to make some changes, but I can’t do that with someone by my side that doesn’t believe in me. I thought I needed you; I thought I needed to have somebody, but I was wrong. I’ll be better off without you even if I’m alone for the rest of my life. I know my mind and I know my heart, and it’s time to stop second guessing. I do need help, and I don’t care if you don’t think I’ve earned the right to say I need mental healthcare. It’s time for me to take care of myself and it’s time for you to gather your things. You have until your food gets here, you can take it to go. » For once, Andrew was at a loss for words. He just stood there, stunned. Lizzy had to stop herself from laughing aloud. The relief of saying the words out loud that she had been holding back for so long was making her giddy. She grabbed a box from a recent delivery and put it in his hands, gathering the things that she saw around her and tossing them in. Suddenly he seemed to wake up and he was looking down at her, superior scowl back in place. « You’re overreacting, you don’t want me gone. You’ll realize your mistake next time you need me. » He seemed so sure that what he was saying was true; it was just so irritating. Lizzy was usually the one to apologize and beg for forgiveness when they fought, but something was different. She had said the words and made the decision, and nothing he said could change it. She had always taken her time to make decisions, people thought she was either indecisive because it took awhile or unfeeling because she didn’t react immediately with her emotions. Lizzy wasn’t sure if that was true or not, and she honestly did worry about it sometimes, but it meant that she was sure of her decisions. « When have I ever needed your help? » she asked, knowing their opinions on the matter would be different. « I am an adult, supporting myself, living independently , » she continued « I can handle household repairs, dealing with bugs, assembling furniture, and cooking and cleaning. If I can’t reach something, I have a stepladder. There is nothing that you do for me that I can’t do as well or better. And if I need someone to doubt me and make me feel bad, I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself . Now hurry up and get the rest of your things gathered, your food will be here in 15 minutes. She left the box in his arms and walked away. She felt powerful and in control, and it felt good. She had just broken up with her boyfriend of four years. This was the man she had resigned herself to someday marrying, and he would be out of her life in 15 minutes. She contemplated the prospect of life without him, surely it would be a big change. Surely she should be a little sad, but she wasn’t. Mostly she was angry with herself for waiting for so long. She wasn’t really angry with Andrew at this point, he was a tool and she knew it, but she had known that for at least two years. The regret of those wasted years was the only thing she felt sad about, but it also made her determined. She was going to start making herself a priority. She logged on to the website for her health insurance and started looking at therapists. She found one who got good reviews an called the office before she could talk herself out of it. She left a message and returned to THE REVIEW. Should she respond? She couldn’t defend herself, the poster was right, so what could she say? Sorry? Give me another chance? No, what she could say was thank you. She logged in to post her response « thank you. Your words were hard to swallow, but they were true and they were the wake up call that I needed. I can’t promise every issue will be fixed overnight, but if you’ll give us another chance, you’ll see that I took your words to heart and I will be making changes . » Smiling she posted the response and logged off. A few minutes later, a knock at the door pulled her from her reveries. My food, or his? « I hope it’s his, I’d like him gone so that I can eat my dinner in peace, » she thought. She got up and went to the door. Scallops, lobster tail, not mine. « Time’s up! » she shouted, « if I find anything else if yours I’ll mail it. ». Andrew emerged with his box, looking unsure. He opened his mouth to speak a few times before gathering himself, pasting that overconfident smirk on his face, and telling her « I’ll talk to you when you come to your senses and want me back. ». « Don’t hold your breath, » she responded, placing his food in the box and opening the door to let him out. Just as she opened it, the delivery driver arrived and handed her a bag of Chinese food. She took it, thanked him, then continued to usher Andrew out the door. «Key, please » she said, when he was out. He looked a little stunned, but he reached into his jacked pocket and removed it from his key ring. He handed it to her with a question in his eyes. Not seeing the answer he wanted, he muttered a goodbye and walked away.