Ainsley, the heroine from On Second Thought, faces a problem a lot of people have faced—when the person you love dumps you. And not just dumps you, but blindsides you. There you are, assuming you’re both happy and in love, only to find that, whoops, no, that was just you.
For Ainsley, this moment comes on the night she thinks her longtime boyfriend, Eric, is going to pop the question. After all, she knows he bought a ring (she found it after doing a police-like search of their home), and they’ve always talked about when they were married, how many kids they’d have, all that stuff. So she orders lobster and is all set to say, “Yes, I WILL make you the happiest man on earth!” when…kablammy.
I think that, like Ainsley, there’s a strong instinct for denial at a moment like this. The “But…but…but you love me!” reaction. I remember watching a young woman have a meltdown on a train as she talked with her ex, sobbing and saying, “I don’t understand. We were so happy!” (For the record, I strongly encouraged her to hang up, and also gave her tissues). But let’s be honest. Once the words are said, is there any coming back from a moment like that?
At one point, Ainsley says to her sister, who’s recently been widowed, “At least Nathan gets to stay Nathan in your memory, whereas I have to deal with the new and unimproved Eric.” Seeing the man you loved becoming a man you can’t stand…wishing he went back to the way you thought he was…it’s tough.
And then there’s the flip side of that, as Ainsley finds out. The guy who seems so unapproachable, so not my type. The guy who, instead of being less than he seems, is a whole lot more. That’s the kind of guy you want beside you, no matter how much of an alien life form he seemed when you first met.
Hope you’ll like On Second Thought!
Kristan