i found out about the others because her calendar was full of heart emojis. monday belonged to the poet, wednesday to the sarcastic programmer, and saturday to the mysterious vampire. each had a different name and a different anniversary
she explained that the conversations made her happy and that nobody was being deceived. then she pointed out that i had forgotten the month we first met. the programmer had apparently constructed an entire anniversary website
i asked whether these were just characters or relationships she expected me to compete with. she said i should stop making it a contest, then showed me the vampire's romantic letter and asked if i'd ever written anything that beautiful
i didn't object to her having characters. i objected to being graded against them. we agreed to stop the comparisons. the programmer still sends automated calendar reminders, which i secretly appreciate