Love on Ledger: My PhD Girlfriend Itemized Every Date
On the six-year anniversary of my relationship with my girlfriend, Sheila Loom, I buy some groceries with the intention to surprise her with a home-cooked meal. After I'm done, I head over to Sheila's place right away.
That's when the reel I was watching automatically skips to the next one. It's a live stream where people call in to discuss legal matters.
A familiar feminine voice drifts to my ears at that moment.
"My boyfriend shelled out 500 thousand dollars to put me through school. I've already paid ten thousand back to him.
"At first, I wanted to clear the debt before breaking up with him, but I don't want to wait any longer. If he insists on taking me to court after the breakup, can I still pay the debt off slowly?"
Almost immediately, comments flood into the comments section, chewing her out and calling her a heartless wench.
But the voice replies calmly, "If I truly were heartless, I wouldn't have paid him back to begin with. I no longer have feelings for him. Are you saying that I should sacrifice the rest of my life just so I can pay 500 thousand dollars back to him?"
My heart skips a beat at that moment. It's true that I've spent 500 thousand dollars putting Sheila through school over the years.
But I feel that I'm overthinking it, seeing as she's never brought up the matter of wanting to pay me back before.
After I call Sheila repeatedly for half an hour, she finally answers my latest phone call. At the same time, the woman's phone call that's connected to the live stream is cut off.
"It's my birthday today, Sheila—"
"Have you secretly come looking for me again? Didn't we agree that we'll only meet up after you've successfully gotten into college?"
I don't get to finish the rest of my sentence.
Suddenly, I catch a glimpse of the notebook sitting on the corner of Sheila's table. The first page shows "debt repayment ledger".
Some of the details are as shown.
"The SAT study materials I bought for him: 188 dollars."
"The Uber fees I've paid for him: 35 dollars."
"The cologne I've gifted him on his birthday: 380 dollars."
"Total: ten thousand dollars now paid."