the accommodating woman

Studies show she’s changed. Black tea, unscented body wash. Yellow instead of blue. But is she done accommodating?

By Tessa Mannell

In 2018, Olay recalled its newest line of honey-jasmine crème body-washes, citing the unexpected toxicity of select inactive ingredients.

Instead of asking if this was the reason you no longer touched me, I threw the bottle out.

A study popularized by Wall Street Journal’s lifestyle section warned that while 84% of adults in the New York tri-state area drink coffee at least once a day, 69% of the same population sample found coffee-breath to be a serious turn-off.

I switched to black tea, hoping you’d kiss me again.

Blue was my favorite color, but the Food Network explained to viewers at home that blue walls in a kitchen can naturally decrease one’s appetite.

I wanted you to be hungry for me, so I painted the walls yellow like a mustard seed. I waited for us to grow from this.

In the spring television season of 1991, Oprah invited a marriage counselor to her talk show. Apparently, women felt much higher rates of depression following divorce than men. This was thought to be due, in part, to the guilt. Their mothers’ voices told them they could have made it work.

I try to go a day without hearing your voice in my head. I come back to myself whenever it is quiet.

I watch Gone Girl and laugh when it’s over. That could have been me.

Sherwin-Williams formulates a paint shade named ‘Secure Blue SW 6508.’ For me, it’s a toss-up between this and ‘Endless Sea SW 9150.’

I like the thought of being secure again. I repaint my kitchen without thinking one sad thought.

Tessa Mannell is a junior at UNC studying global studies and public policy, with a minor in Korean.