Avoiding Mr Right Read Online Free

hell.
You're supposed to be the man, the strong one, and I feel
like I'm carrying the load for both of us.'
    'I'm sorry, babe,' he said and held me close.
    I kept crying uncontrollably. 'You know I hate being
called babe.' Everything was bugging me.
    'But you are my babe, you always will be, until we have real
bubs of our own, and sorry, but then they'll be my babes.'
    'I hate children, they cry like this all the time. I'd never
cope. And you'd never cope with me and them crying at the
same time.' He just laughed and rocked me.
    James wasn't emotionally crippled like most other men
I'd known. He was good at being a manly man and knew
what to do when I was upset. He'd just listen and hold me.
That was what I loved about him.
    He was an overachiever, though, and didn't do anything
by halves. Even at his young age, James had already
reached his professional goals and was a partner in a major
architectural firm. That was part of the problem: now that
he'd made partner, he was starting to think about his next
goal: marriage and kids. He was always talking about other
people he knew getting engaged. He'd already given me a
gorgeous Ceylon sapphire ring for my birthday a few months
back. James was romantic and not afraid to show it or spend
money. Alice had always said that if she met James before
Gary she would've married him for sure. But I wasn't Alice.
I had always seen marriage as a threat to my independence,
my individuality and my ability to party.
    'You know you don't have to go,' he said hopefully. 'I
mean, if you changed your mind, it's not too late. We could
just move in together, now that most of your stuff is packed
and everything.'
    'I haven't changed my mind, James, and I won't. You
don't understand, because you've got the career you want
already. I haven't. Not yet.'
    'But don't you want to settle down, too?'
    'Of course I do, maybe, I think, one day. But not yet.
There's other things I want to do first. I've got career goals,
you know that.'
    I'd managed to put off moving in with James, and for
some reason he thought it was because I didn't believe in
living together before marriage. I'd tried to explain that I
just didn't believe in marriage itself, and wasn't even sure if
I wanted kids, but he'd laughed and said, 'Don't be silly, all women want babies.'
    'So, are you going to be dating other people, then, while
you're reaching your goals ?' The sarcasm in James's voice
was uncharacteristic, but the jealousy was no surprise. The
green-eyed monster was one of his flaws. I honestly gave
him no cause – I flirted innocently at times, but did that
mean I didn't love him? Mum had always said that when
you were in a relationship it was okay to perve on other
people, or in her words, you could look at the menu but you
just couldn't order. That wasn't how James saw it. He didn't
even like me talking to Andy at Sauce.
    I started to roll a cigarette and James gave me a look of
disgust.
    'I know, I know . . . I'm giving up when I move, all right?'
    'All right,' he said, and then there was silence.
    I got up and walked out to the balcony and lit up.
    'You haven't answered my question,' he said
impatiently.
    'Going to Melbourne is about my career,' I said exhaling.
'It's not about not seeing you so I can date other people. In
fact, I've decided I'm going to be celibate.'
    'Don't you mean faithful?'
    'No, I mean celibate. The difference between being
faithful and celibate is that being faithful is something that's expected of you when you're apart from your partner, while
being celibate is something you choose to do for yourself. And
I don't expect myself to be faithful – being faithful is just
normal to me, but I will choose to be celibate because I am in
control of my actions and my body. Does that make sense?'
    'Kind of.' He took the cigarette from my hand and stubbed
it into a pot plant on the balcony ledge, which annoyed me,
but I didn't want to have an argument over a