Sebagai alternatif, narator dapat mengubah obsesi menjadi —yaitu apresiasi yang tidak menuntut balasan, melainkan menginspirasi diri untuk menjadi pribadi yang lebih baik. Misalnya, mengadopsi etos kerja keras sang gadis paruh waktu untuk meningkatkan prestasi akademik, tanpa memaksa interaksi pribadi.
. She’s the person who knows exactly where the obscure magazines are but looks like she needs a 12-hour nap. ipzz301 aku terobsesi dengan gadis paruh waktu yang
“It’s okay,” I said. And then, because obsession makes you brave and stupid in equal measure, I added: “I’d rather spill a thousand coffees than never see your face.” She’s the person who knows exactly where the
That is the ritual. That is the entire conversation. And yet, in the silence between the beep of the scanner and the clink of my coins, I have constructed an entire universe. I have imagined her name in wedding invitations. I have pictured her laughter echoing through the empty halls of my apartment. I have written her letters in my head—long, desperate poems about the way she sighs when a customer is rude, or the way she bites her lower lip when the credit card machine refuses to connect. That is the entire conversation