It’s 1 AM, and I’ve just finished reading a book I had only started this morning. I read all day long. For hours and hours and hours. Reading while sitting on the grassy lawn waiting for my laundry. Reading at the beach more than actually swimming in the water. Reading on the couch. Reading in my bed. I couldn’t put this book down.
This book was about Michael.
Michael gets hired by Stella to do activities together. Their whole relationship stands on the basis that they’re supposed to do activities together. But of course they fall in love. Of course they end up being absolutely perfect for one another.
And as I read and read, I couldn’t help but fall in love with Michael.
On pages 78-80, Michael buys her ice cream. Mint chocolate chip. Then when he wants to try some of her ice cream he doesn’t just dip his spoon in her cup and get a scoop… He leans over and kisses her to taste the ice cream off her lips. I died.
A few chapters later he says, “So you can be sure the next man to kiss or touch you only does it because he wants to…” And then he immediately kisses her to prove that he wants her. What a move.
Throughout the book you see how Michael feels sad whenever Stella is sad and how it hurts him to see her feeling hurt. He calls her “my Stella”. He cooks for her. He drives them around. He’s aware of the things she likes and dislikes and tries his best to do what’s best for her- what she would enjoy most. At one point in the book he even sews her a dress to wear.
How could you not fall in love with Michael when he does all these cute and thoughtful things?
Robin and I have been going back and forth for weeks. Comparing notes, sharing book recommendations, and obsessing over the male leads in these romantic novels who are far from the reality of the men we’ve been presented. We’ve compiled a mental list of all the characteristics we admire based on these fictional characters, and we’ve unrealistically set expectations that the next guy we talk to will live up to the standards of these fake men.
I want someone like Michael.
But around 50 pages before the book is supposed to end, Michael breaks up with Stella. He ends their arrangement- which was never really a relationship to begin with. He thinks that he’s doing what’s best or Stella because he doesn’t feel good enough, and maybe she’ll find someone out there that’s better than him. He doesn’t feel like he has the right job or is doing the right thing. So he packs up his things from her house and leaves his copy of the front door keys behind. That’s when I completely lost it.
I’m not the author of this book. I don’t know why she had Michael break up with Stella when things seemed to be incredible between the two of them. But as you read along in the book, Michael clearly still loves Stella. There’s a part when his cousin says he looks terrible and Michael explains that he had been so used to sleeping with someone by his side that now he hasn’t been able to sleep on his own. Then his cousin asks him why he’s not fighting for Stella. He should fight for Stella.
So I don’t want the Michael that breaks up with Stella suddenly. I’ve had enough of that for this year. But I want a Michael that is cute and thoughtful but is also going to fight for me. Someone who isn’t going to toss me aside because they think they know best. Someone who is going to stay. All I want is someone to stay.
In the end Michael does fight. Spoiler alert. He sends Stella flowers. He waits for her after work. He apologizes. They get back together. From there Michael is even able to take care of his mom, start a new business, and propose to Stella.
I loved this book even with the new lofty expectations it stirred in me. Even if certain parts felt too relatable and too painful. And yes, even though the main character who I fell in love with instantly was named Michael.