In the game of poker it’s important to know when to hold your hand and when to fold. If you don’t fold in time you could wind up losing everything. However, if you don’t hold onto your cards when you should, you could wind up missing out on an opportunity to win it big. Ironically, relationships work the same way. If you don’t call it all off at the right time, it could result in you wasting month or even years, building a relationship fated to go down in flames. However, if you take a chance on the hand you’ve been dealt and hold your cards out, then you may just find yourself going home with all the chips. Which begs the question, how do we know when to hold em and when to fold em?

Plates and silverware clacked together loudly In a small diner as two young ladies met to catch up after a brief two month hiatus on their friendship due to a summer study abroad program. It was 3 p.m., which was the only time they had to sit down with each other for coffee thanks to their busy work schedules. Both of them had been in a relationship for quite some time now. The only thing separating the two of them was how they played the love game. Grace Pevintson was a 27-year-old accountant who had always sworn by her cynical ideologies. She believed that no woman should every allow themselves to fall head over heels for a man and that prenups should always be the first thing on a couples mind before tying the knot. Across from Grace sat Melissa Triker, a short quirky young woman whose chubby face was shaped by a neatly kept brown bob. Melissa was one of those girls who spent hours on Tinder hoping she would match with a profile that read “Prince Charming. Interested in instantaneous commitment, promise rings, and speedy engagements. Feel free to shoot me a message, I’m the perfect match for you.” Naturally this made Grace's skin crawl, so when the two woman sat down together to discuss the state of their relationships Grace continuously found herself biting her top lip as she attempted to keep her cynicism under wraps.

“I just don’t get it Grace, we’ve been dating for over a year now where is this ring? The other night while he was asleep I checked all the drawers in the apartment. I found everything from the Simpson's box set to old Yugi-Oh cards but no sign of a ring. What does this mean, what’s wrong with us? Does he not want to commit or something?” Melissa barked with bated breaths while nervously playing with the burnt french fries spread out on her plate. Grace squinted across the table, “No Melissa, maybe he just isn’t ready. Just because you don’t have a piece of metal around your finger doesn’t mean your relationship is falling apart. However, I would definitely be prepared for the possibility that you may be on different pages as far as the speed of the relationship is concerned,” said Grace. This comment stopped Melissa dead in her tracks. How could that be? Everything seemed so perfect, she had never once considered that they were on separate pages as far as the pacing of the relationship was concerned. What could that mean? What had she done to deserve this? Melissa’s head began to spin as she blurted out a terrifying possibility she had had lurking in the back of her mind since she scoured the apartment. “Maybe he’ll never be ready. Maybe I should call it off. Ya know, that’s what I should do. I can’t keep this up if I’m only going to be disappointed.” Melissa said nervously while shifting around in her seat as if she were sitting on warm coal.

Grace began to grit her teeth as she suppressed her urge to leap across the table and slap the living daylights out of Melissa. “You’re being ridiculous. Calling the whole thing off would just be impulsive and I know you two really love each other so stop freaking out. Think of this, set up this scenario in your head for a second. You go to a café to break up with him. You tell him you can’t do it anymore and that you’re both growing apart, and as you go to hug him goodbye you notice a jewelry box in his pocket. It will have turned out he had the ring the whole time and that your paranoia ruined your chances of a happily ever after,” Grace said in a motherly tone. It was one of those motherly tones that only come out to play when you find yourself lecturing someone about knowledge you think they should already know. The old cushions Melissa sat on squeaked as she sank into her seat considering that maybe she was flying off the handle a bit. Maybe she was over reacting. They loved each other and the relationship was healthy. What did a ring mean anyway? Her head fell as she regretted impulsively telling Grace that she wanted to call things off. She didn’t mean it of course. People say dumb things when they are caught up In themselves. Melissa looked back up at Grace her green eyes shining shamefully through her brown bob. “Grace, I didn’t mean it. I have just ran over the proposal so many times in my head. I have even practice my lines in the bathroom mirror countless times. If I tell my hairbrush that I will marry it one more time it may try and find a new owner. I mean seriously this is waiting game is just killing me,” Melissa said in a bashful manner.

Suddenly Graces frustration with Melissa subsided. As she looked at her distraught friend she was overwhelmed with a sense of compassion. “Listen, I’m sure your dreams will come true and you will get that ring, but he’s worth waiting for. Hold on, let him take it at his own pace. If he really is the man your wild for then he will be worth the wait,” Grace said while sipping her coffee as her eyes rolled round in her head like a slot machine. As the conversation began to die down the loud siren of a police car could be heard outside the diner on the streets of the empty little suburban town.

Hours passed as the two women caught up and traded war stories. As Grace got up from the table and said her goodbyes Melissa stayed behind as she watched Grace leave the diner only to be engulfed in a bright sunlight. Siting at the table, Melissa got to thinking about love. Maybe it was all a game. Maybe in order to win the love game you need to find a balance. A perfect balance that involves just the right amount of patience and strategy. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure of how to achieve that balance yet. However, after her talk with Grace, she knew she was in the middle of a good game and that she’d be a fool to fold her hand so soon.