Imaginary Boyfriend

When I was twenty-two, I had an imaginary boyfriend. He was based on a real guy, a barista that worked next door to my apartment building. I borrowed his image and I invented a relationship.

Like most relationships, things were good in the beginning. Then the trouble started, and this was where things began to differ from a traditional relationship. He began to get younger. One day he was underage. He wanted me to buy beer for his friends, who became increasingly loud and boisterous.

Ultimately, I had to break up with him. I can’t remember the specifics, but my guess is that I became interested in a real person.

This should have been the end of things, but six months later, the guy I’d based the boyfriend on moved into my building with his real life girlfriend, who ended up being the cousin of a friend of mine. This was a little awkward for me at first, but I got used to it. Within a year, they broke up and moved out.

I saw him again one last time maybe five years later. He had lost all of his hair and wasn’t cute anymore.

Remembrance of Things Past_