Ada woke up to the strong sunlight pouring through the roof windows and reflecting off the walls of the new apartment. She would have to get some curtains put in, she thought, or in summer there'd be no way to sleep here, she thought.
She stretched like a cat and looked around. It was the first time in years that she had a place all to herself. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the kitchen, curling her toes on the cool tiles of the floor, navigating her way around the boxes. She would definitely need lots of coffee to tackle the day, start unpacking, and finally start her new life on her own.
The last six months had been hell. The seven-year relationship with Steven had finally gone to the dogs, but not without a fight. Literally. They had been fighting on and off for two years before the final six-month break-up; they fought about little things that were actually nothing but masks for the big differences between them. He came from a big, close, and noisy family, and even though he swore he wanted nothing like that, in the end family was one of his core values and one of the things he ended up reproaching Ada the most. She came from a small family which valued individuality and privacy; she spoke little and believed that all people were entitled to their own private life and free will. Steven would have nothing of that; he believed that all things were connected, talked about everything, wanted to know everything, wanted her to share everything. Ada saw the world in a million colors and accepted them all. For Steven, things were either black, or white: there was no in-between.
It was a miracle that they had lasted for so long, she thought. It had been ok while she had been pliant and willing to let him lead; not so much when she started to long for things that she had buried deep inside. Steven had always known about her previous partners and her rather adventurous sex life before him, her bisexuality and her kinks. But he had never understood it and, as it turned out in the end, he hoped that "true love" would make her forget. That's why all hell broke loose when he started to go through her computer and found that she had been watching lesbian and BDSM porn. He felt hurt and couldn't accept it; he tried to convince her that there was something wrong with her for still wanting that, for not being happy with what she had. Wasn't the sex good between them? Didn't he love her? Didn't she love him? Didn't he give her the "happy ever after" all fairytales promised? Couldn't she see that this was the dark side of her, and that she had to fight against it?
This went on for six long months. She loved Steven, it was true. She had embarked on their relationship thinking that it would be for ever, and that she would not need girls, or kink, again.
But it had been in vain. This was who she was, and sexuality was just the tip of the iceberg. Ada needed to feel free and accepted for who she was, and Steven needed her to mold herself into the image he had made of her. So they fought, and they made up, and they had make-up sex. And then they fought even harder, and made up again and again, and had heart-breaking sex knowing that it was going to end soon, that love wasn't enough to keep them together.
They finally gave up when they were just too tired to fight any more, and when all the arguments had been repeated over and over, and when it was clear that they couldn't go back to where they had been when it had all begun.
So, now, here she was, with her life packed up in boxes in this small attic apartment. Her clothes, and her books, and the computer, and the IKEA furniture waiting to be put together. Ada rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
