18 Comments

"His reply was an 'OK' with a smiley face." What a creep! Lots of fear, a new start, the unknown, good to have friends in moments like these. She's not alone after all, even though it sure feels that way. Bali will be excellent. And as Bill and Ted say: Be excellent to each other.

Expand full comment

I’m feeling a playlist from your comment. Creep, Bill & Ted...

And with such great messages!

Expand full comment

Simply the best! ;)

Expand full comment

HOO-RAY! Terribly painful, but good lord, Georg is almost serial killer level sociopathic. Ugh. Go to Bali, girl! Have an affair! Rob a bank! Anything would be better than staying with that cold fish. 💃🎉🎈

Expand full comment

Oops I wasn’t finished yet with the comment - it’s like channeling the anger / frustration into action, even if not directly against Georg, will be cathartic. Like it.

Expand full comment

haha Well I've FINALLY started watching Orange is the New Black, it might be coloring my POV... 😂🍊🧡

Expand full comment

😂😂 love the inspo!!

Expand full comment

Love the notion that moral corruptness will solve Ivy’s problems!

Expand full comment

THIS. LISTEN TO TROY, IVY. LISTEN TO THIS WISE MAN!

Expand full comment

"His reply was an 'OK' with a smiley face."

🤯😱😱

Better off without him. Good riddance.

Off to Bali (perfect choice). The transformation begins. 🦋

Expand full comment

You know Bali so well now 😁 That’s right, Georg as a long catalyst for action! Now what will Ivy do...

Expand full comment

Bye bye, Georg, I hope forever! With each chapter, his behavior kept baffling me all the more. It was always stunning how nonchalant and uncaring he truly was and becoming more. A beautiful sentiment we should all keep repeating ourselves: "The open roads, the flowing rice paddy fields, the wild ocean: these spaces offered her rebirth or at least self awareness." Thank you for this beautiful, painful, yet hopeful chapter.

Expand full comment

Thank you, Nadia! It’s good to get rid of him, isn’t it?

Expand full comment

At last!!!

Expand full comment

Powerful illustration of the collapse (or avoidance of intimacy) of a relationship as well as the devastating impact of a miscarriage in the line, "I gazed at that baby I could have had, I did have -- for a short while. And then the only thing to do was to flush her down the pipes." This really captured the aesthetic of the emotional entanglement to a miscarried child contrasted with the sterile and deliberate procedure of medical waste disposal, a well done and painful rendering.

Expand full comment

Thank you, Brian! "Emotional entanglement" is a great way to put it. I'm very interested in this kind of avoidance and the ramifications. Good to hear some of it is reaching the readers.

Expand full comment

Wow, so much happening here! The cold response of Georg is so chilling. And Ivy's perception of becoming an outsider in her neighbourhood is a great detail. Excellent.

Expand full comment

Thanks so much Jeffrey 🙏🏽💜

That is exactly the vibe I was going for!

Expand full comment