String (Story Prompt for Thursday)

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Intelligent, talented, kind and handsome. On the surface, Raghav is everything I could want my partner to be. He has all the qualities that, ideally, should make me fall in love with him. I should be ecstatic that this gorgeous and amazing man is with me.

But I'm not. I do not love Raghav, nor do I envision a future with him. We do have quite a few things in common. We're both cinephiles, we both love animals, we're from the same culture and share similar beliefs.

However, we do not want the same things for our future.

Raghav wants children, and I don't.

I've never liked children. I think they're loud, messy and annoying. I support charities that help children in need, but that doesn't mean I want to be around them. Giving birth to, and raising my own kids is completely out of the question.

Which is why when I look at the way Raghav interacts with children, I know that our relationship has no future. He adores kids and wants to be a father. He is from a large family and has over a dozen nieces and nephews. All of them love him, as he is their favourite uncle.

On the other hand, my niece and two nephews know better than to approach me. Their parents too are aware that I have no patience for their brats.

Raghav and I are polar opposites when it comes to children. And this is the reason we shouldn't be together anymore. This one major difference is going to tear us apart down the line.

Though Raghav has never asked me to interact with the children in his family, I know that if we were to take things to the next level, he will ask me to commit to having children in the future. A commitment I cannot and will not make.

Though I may enjoy being with Raghav for now, I know that this relationship is doomed. And it is grossly unfair of me to continue to string him along, knowing that things will never go any further than this.

Raghav deserves true love and happiness. As do I. That is why, I'm going to sever this string of "good times" that connects us, and let him go.

Hanging on by a thread that will snap in the future is not how a relationship should be. Both he and I deserve much better.