The Art Of Saying No Novels & Stories

Artie came over jauntily to meet him. Thaddeus took out the leftover mails in his box and shut the lid while trying not to meet his neighbour’s smiling face. “The answer is no, Artie. I don’t care what you say, the answer I’m giving you is n-o, and that spells no.” “Come on, Thad. You ain’t even heard what it is I want from you. Quit blowing me off so easily.”

It was about her. And for the first time in years, she didn’t know how to answer. Her instinct was to deflect, to retreat into polished words. That was how she survived boardrooms and interviews: say enough to sound insightful, but never enough to expose. Sophia tilted her chin slightly, her voice crisp. “It’s strong. Bold. Uncompromising. That’s what good art should be.”

Alva sighed. “So what did you tell them?” “Yes of course, what else was I supposed to tell them, it would have looked like I was being rude if I had said no, and I believe they were just doing it for their goodwill, probably to make me fit in,” She rolled her eyes, “You have to learn to say no at times, like speak up for yourself,” “Whatever, I have a gym meeting to be in later with them and if you still want my help with that recipe, we had better start now,”

I looked at her calmly. "Let's do it, Lauren. Let's cancel the engagement for real this time." Lauren stared at me in shock. Then, she seemed to remember something and snorted coldly. "Did you forget the last time you tried to leave? You couldn't even last a day before you came back crying and begging me to forgive you. "What's your plan this time? Same thing? How long will it last? One day? Three days? Don't come crawling back again, crying and begging me like a child!"

They show you all around, try to spend some time with you, engage you in a conversation that takes longer than it should. I know how these things work, but I'm not going to fall prey a second time. Claude was enough lesson for me to learn for a lifetime; I'm not going to make the same mistake again. “I don't owe you an explanation on why I want to leave, alright?” there was an edge to my voice. “If I want to leave, then it's because I want to. I don't see any reason why you should try to hold me back here with some conversation that I'm not interested in.”

After a prolonged beep, he heard someone say, "I don't want a card, insurance, or loan. Please kindly block my number. Thank you." The impatient tone and perfunctory words remained familiar to me, easing the tension I had endured all day. All of a sudden, I just had tears welling up in my eyes. "I'm Arvin. Please don't hang up. I just wanted to tell you that Letitia should be careful and not indulge herself outside. She can't eat whatever she wants. Her due date is approaching." There was silence on the other end. It was so quiet that Arvin thought Maggie had hung up.

“If you don’t want this, say no.” “I, um..”

Stare at it for a full minute. Then delete it. No—that's too confrontational. Too sudden. They'll panic, ask questions, potentially escalate. I learned the hard way what happens when they feel threatened. I need to be smarter this time. Instead, I type: Can't right now. Tight on funds. Sorry. It's not a lie. My bank account has barely eight thousand dollars after Elena's gallery disaster drained everything. But more importantly—it's not a yes. I hit send before I can second-guess myself.

He really couldn't be without me, so I—" "You don't have to explain," I cut her off. "And I'm not mad. I went out to dinner with some coworkers tonight and didn't check my phone." She froze, clearly not expecting that answer. "Did you go out with your coworkers without telling me?" I replied calmly, "We're adults. We should have our own space. I don't need to report every little thing to you, do I?" The moment she heard that, she went completely still. And from her expression, I knew she understood.

Saying yes is at my possible detriment, declining might backfire since he'll bring up my debt. He didn’t seem to be phased by my trance, the face he made seemed used to stuff like this. How many girls does he make speechless every day? Wait. Where is that coming from? I cleared my throat. He does these things. I hate them yet can't seem to control myself. Okay, Camilla. Breathe. Just breathe. I paused for a few seconds more before offering him my answer; no answer, a diversion mostly. "I’ll think about it"