“Dan, don’t you see? You are my ex, the one who broke my heart and taught me the most valuable lesson, never trust anyone.” Ayla cried, grabbing Moose as he rushed by and walking back into her apartment, slamming and locking the door behind her. Tears streamed down her face as she slid down the door, her heart breaking even more, if that was even possible.

Dan watched as Ayla went into her apartment. What did she mean he was the ex? He had never met Ayla before a few weeks ago. He was sure he would remember if they had ever been in a relationship, Ayla wasn’t someone that you could ever forget. He would never do the things to her that she said her ex had done. She deserved to be protected, cherished, taken care of but most of all loved. Dan walked down the hall, out of the apartment building, more confused than ever.

Ayla had thought that the admission to Dan that he was her ex would solve her problem of him leaving her alone, except the next morning when she opened her door to take Moose to the dog park, Dan was sitting next to it, legs crossed and head resting against the wall. It was only eight in the morning, how long had he been there?

“How long have you been here? Why didn’t you ring the bell?” Ayla asked Dan as he looked up at her.

“I got here about six, I guess. I didn’t want to wake you or cause Moose to wake the neighbors. So, I decided to wait until you were awake. I guess I must have dozed off.” Dan replied, standing up and stretching.

“You may as well come in; I will start some coffee.” Ayla told him as she unlocked her door, turned Moose free from his leash and headed to the coffee pot. Ayla knew that he had questions and now was as good as time as any to answer them.

Dan followed Ayla into her apartment, taking in the second-hand furniture, the absence of pictures except the few of her and Moose and the cleanliness of the place. He walked over to her dining room table and took a seat. It was cozy in her apartment, not a lot of clutter and it smelled like lilacs. Ayla waited until the coffee was done brewing before placing sugar, creamer, two cups and spoons and poured the coffee. She sat across from him, fixing her coffee and trying to settle her nerves, her hands already shaking.

“Yesterday you told me that I am your ex. Ayla, I am certain that I would remember dating you, let alone living with you. I think you have me confused with someone else.” Dan said, stirring his coffee before taking a sip. It burnt his tongue and his throat as he swallowed but it was the best cup of coffee he had ever had.

“Dan, we were together for eight years. I lived with you, slept with you every night. I did the dishes standing in your kitchen, dancing and singing along with the radio as you watched television. Your kitchen is painted red, with apple décor that used to belong to your grandmother. You have a brown couch that takes up one whole wall that is a bay window. Your bedroom is painted navy blue, you have an aqua comforter on the bed, white curtains that hang in the windows. You won’t sleep with your feet our from under the covers because you are afraid something will grab your feet as you sleep. You have to sleep with three fans going because you need the noise and the feel of air on your face as you sleep.”

Ayla told him, only looking up when she had finished speaking. Dan was looking at her, his mouth hanging open, he was speechless. How could she know all that about him and his house? He had never told her about any of that, he was sure of that. He didn’t know what to say, why didn’t he remember her and the time she claims they had spent living together?

“If what you say is true, how did I get the scar on my head?” he asked. Only his family knew how he had gotten the scar.

“You were little, climbed to the roof of the porch, tied a blanket around your throat and tried to fly. You thought you were superman. You ended up splitting your head open, twice because you tried it twice. You have a matching scar on both sides of your head. You told me about it one night when we were laying in bed and I was tracing the scars.” Ayla told him, glancing up to see a shocked expression on his face.

“Why can’t I remember? Was I in an accident and I forgot my memory?” he asked.

“No, it was nothing like that. I erased your memories of our time together.” Ayla answered.

“What do you mean you erased the memories of us? Why would you do that?” Dan exclaimed, standing up and pacing the distance of Ayla’s apartment.

“I found out about all of the other women you had while we were together. I actually talked to Tori on the phone one night. She sent me screenshots of your messages, your pictures and the call log between you two. I know about Tammy, Penny, Amanda and Courtney. I’m sure there were more but those were enough. Two nights before I left and wiped your memories, I slipped a truth serum in your tea. You wasted no time telling me that you needed more than just one woman in your life. You admitted that you had no plans to ever marry me, you didn’t want to be tied down to just one person. You told me how you liked the attention that you get from multiple women. You crushed my heart that night. I visited the spellcaster the next day, got the dust and learned the chant to speak over you that would erase all memories of our time together. I left two days later, you never even noticed that all of my stuff had disappeared from around the house. You didn’t notice how quiet I had gotten; how distant I became. I gave you one last kiss, whispered the spell, blew the dust over you and walked out the door and out of your life. I have rebuilt my life without you in it.” Ayla said, tears falling down her face, her hands were shaking and she couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“What right did you have to erase my memories of us? And what spellcaster? Why didn’t you ever tell me that you knew about the other women?” Dan asked, looking directly at her but not seeing her. All Dan could see was red, he was furious with her for erasing his memory, if she really had.

“I couldn’t live with you knowing that my attention, my love and affection for you wasn’t enough. I didn’t think that you deserved to remember any of the time we spent together. I have missed you everyday since walking out of your door, there hasn’t been a second go by that I haven’t thought about you, worrying if you were okay or not. All of the pictures, texts and voice messages to all those women, it spoke volumes. You never took pictures with me, you never bought me flowers or gifts, you never took me places or spent any time with me. That all told me that I wasn’t the one for you. I felt un-needed, un-wanted and unloved.” Ayla sobbed as she answered him.

Dan sat quietly, tears streaming down his face. He couldn’t believe that he had this woman, this beautiful, caring, kind, funny woman in his life, in his home for eight years and he cheated on her. What was wrong with him?

Ayla took a deep breath and continued speaking. “I begged you to spend time with me, to do things with me. I would point out flowers all the time that I thought were beautiful but you always said they were too expensive. You were always too busy on your phone or with your “friends”, you were too busy for me. After a while, I just stopped asking and begging. I thought you would change if I did more around the house, cooked all your favorite meals, that most of the time were cold by the time you decided to come home, that you would finally notice me. Everything and everyone else were more important than I was to you. I never said anything to you about the other women because I figured if you knew that I had found out about them, you would accuse me of spying or snooping.”

Dan sat still and quiet for a few minutes. “Ayla, I am so sorry, how can I ever make it up to you?”

“How are your other women, Tori seemed very nice, by the way.” Ayla asked, not sure if she really wanted to hear his answer.

“Tori and I don’t talk anymore. We haven’t since about a week after you spoke with her on the phone. She told me that only a monster could cheat on a sweet person like you. I am a monster, the worst kind. I realize that what you are telling me is true. How could I do all those horrible things to you?”

“The funny thing is, I had planned a weekend away with you when I discovered your “women”. I had booked us a hotel out of town, one with a hot tub in the room, I had movie tickets to see the movie that you wanted to see, dinner reservations, and had planned on giving you a lot of extra attention that weekend. When I brought it up to you later that night, you told me that you couldn’t leave town that weekend, you had to work. The truth is, you were with Penny, all weekend. You only came home long enough to shower and change your clothes. I sat by myself at the house all weekend, knowing that you were with Penny and not me. Every time I make plans for us to go somewhere on a trip or just an overnight, you always had an excuse on why you couldn’t. You even told me that on your overnight business trips that you always seemed to have to take, that I couldn’t go with you. I called your hotel one night and I found out why I couldn’t go with you. I’m not sure if it was Amanda or Courtney that answered, but I got my answer.”

“I feel so bad for how I treated you Ayla. What can I do to make it up to you? Will you forgive me? How can I change your mind about me?” Dan asked, a hopeful look in his eyes.

“So, it only took me erasing your memory, telling you that I knew about the other women and telling you how badly you treated me for you to realize that what you did was wrong? Why wasn’t I ever enough for you? Why did you need attention from all of those other women?” Ayla asked, fire burning in her eyes. Even after everything she had told him, he still didn’t see that he had broken her.

“I don’t know how to answer you. There is no excuse for what I did to you or how I treated you. I guess I needed all of the attention because it was a game to me, but in the end, I lost the best prize a person could ever win, your heart. Will you ever be able to forgive me?” Dan asked, chocking on the last few words.

“Dan, I loved you with everything I had. I would have done anything in this world for you. You were my person, the only one I wanted to spend my life with, to wake up to and fall asleep with, you were my world. I did everything I could think of for you to notice that I was there but you noticed everyone but me. I wanted to be your first and only choice, instead I was just a stand in when one of your other women wasn’t available. You broke me in ways that a person should never be broken, in ways that I would never ever think about doing to you. I would never treat you the way you treated me. I stayed with you far longer than I should have but I kept hoping and dreaming you would change. Instead, you paid less attention to me and what was going on around you when you were around me.”

“I have a job that I love, an apartment that I love, and I have Moose. Yes, I still love you and I always will but I cannot and will not be a stand in for anyone. I dreamed of a life with you, making memories with you, laughing with you until our sides hurt, and sharing everything; good and bad with you. Instead, I got a life without you, memories of how you hurt me, crying until my sides hurt and not having anyone to share anything with except Moose. I deserve more, I deserve better. I deserve someone who will love me at my worst and best, spend every second they can with me, buy me things just to see me smile, take me places, hold my hand in public, kiss me under the stars but most of all love only me.” Ayla spoke with a passion Dan had never heard before. This was a side of her he had never seen and it kind of scared him.

“All I wanted from you was time, attention and love. You couldn’t give me any of them. I have learned to live alone, without you being a part of my life. I begged you for a dog, something that I could take care of and show love to. You had an excuse as to why we couldn’t get one. You wouldn’t even consider getting an older dog so we wouldn’t have to do the puppy stage. I have Moose, he truly saved my life after I left you.” Ayla said, scratching Moose behind his ear and he thumping his tail against the floor.

“What do you mean he truly saved your life?” Dan asked as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

“A few weeks after I left you, I stopped eating, drinking and sleeping. I couldn’t, I was too heartbroken and all I could think about was you. I got really sick and passed out. Moose started barking and wouldn’t stop which alerted Ms. Jones, my next-door neighbor and the only person I speak to on a daily basis. She knows Moose doesn’t bark unless something is wrong or there is someone at the door. Well, when he didn’t stop barking, she used her key and came in. She found me laying on the floor, when I passed out, I managed to hit my head on the end table. She called the ambulance and took care of Moose while I was in the hospital. I was there for a week and Ms. Jones took care of Moose for me.” Ayla answered, embarrassed to admit that she had basically stopped living when she left him, it had been too painful.

“Wasn’t I listed as your emergency contact? Why didn’t they contact me? You have to promise me that you will take care of yourself since I am not around to do it for you.” Came Dan’s reply which infuriated Ayla.

“I had you removed as my emergency contact the day I moved out. You wouldn’t have known me or why they were calling you. I also didn’t think you cared. And as for promising to take care of myself since you aren’t around to do it, that was your decision. You chose your other women over me; I just made the decision to allow you to continue doing it. Why act like you care about me? Why couldn’t you care about me when we were together? Why couldn’t you be this person when we were together?” Ayla said, her voice rising in sound alerting Moose who came running over and laid his head on her lap. She stroked his head to let him know she was okay. He laid on the floor at her feet, his head laying on her left foot, he always had to be touching her when she was home.

“Ayla, I have apologized already, what more do you want me to say? I don’t know why I did the things I did; I don’t know why I felt the need to have attention from multiple women, except that I liked the attention. But I am swearing here and now, you are the only one I want, you are the one for me. If you give me a chance to prove it, you won’t be sorry, I promise.” Dan said, fresh tears gathering in his eyes.