My character is breaking up with his girlfriend, he's not in love and she's getting too clingy. They are in the 1% class, so they come from rich families. And they're in a big city, a century or two in the future. They can be anywhere, (except at his house), it doesn't matter to the story. So help me pick a place for this breakup to happen. Maybe it should be at her house? Anyone have any preferences?
Might depend if he's considerate or not. If so, not at her house, otherwise every time she walks past wherever it happened, she'll remember it. Following this logic... if it can't be at his house, then somewhere else she'd have no reason to go if not with him.
I appreciate the comments. Let me add some more. The two are part of a group of friends, so they will see each other again. And he wants to remain friends. She's going to be bitch around a female friend of his later that he is infatuated with (the ex is right) but that he never has a romantic relationship with (the ex is wrong). But rather than have her be the jealous-ex trope, she's going to be more rounded than that.
If I was thinking practically more than emotionally, I would do it somewhere public but a little secluded. Like a quiet corner of a restaurant or a bench in a park or something. That way they could have the conversation without being overheard but she couldn't get too hysterical and clingy, unless she really doesn't care about doing that in front of strangers. If I was thinking more emotionally, I would still do it away from the house as @Sifunkle said. I might also have one of our mutual friends waiting in the wings to comfort her afterwards, although that could be humiliating for the girlfriend to know that her friend knew before she did.
If the expection is that the boy plays to still be friends with her. I would imagine he would try and do it with as much taste as possible. Somewhere alone. Somewhere she can get her frustation out without making a scene.
Depends what sort of break-up it is too. I assume premeditated, in which case I stand by what I said. I can see both @Tenderiser 's and @GuardianWynn 's angles on the public/private front - I think that just depends on the characters. I'd be on the side of not involving mutual friends until after-the-fact though. Factoring that in, and if they're firm in their 1%er ways, maybe he can get her into some dreary cafe in some poor corner of town that neither of them are likely to visit again, friendship group or not? Maybe during a quiet time when there are few other customers, but it's still public? If it's a spur-of-the-moment, straw-that-breaks-the-camel's-back break-up, then I suppose their location would be a) somewhere their hobbies and interests would naturally lead them, and b) somewhere where he would be more likely to notice whatever aspect of the relationship isn't satisfying him, or where she'd be more likely to do whatever turns him off. If he is dumping her because he's infatuated with that friend of his, somewhere that reminds him of that friend? I'm not sure that the reader would hold it against you whatever you picked - bad things happen wherever, and a dumping is the kind of thing she'll probably find the negative aspect of regardless (i.e. no matter how considerate he tries to be, she'll probably think, Why would he dump me there of all places?). If he wants to stay friends, maybe don't dump her at their engagement party, or her graduation, or while she's recovering from major surgery... but other than that, open season. I'm not sure if you're actually after specific suggestions or not, but they're pretty hard to give without knowledge of your characters and setting, so hopefully the general pointers we're offering help with your process
Thanks everyone. I'm going to go with small cafe over lunch and see how it turns out. Now I have to think about how it can be an interesting sci-fi setting (minus the aliens).
2 centuries in the future...will people even break up in person anymore? I feel like thats a good time for a quick tele-mind-communication and then off to killing hordes of virtual zombies (zombies have just having a popular resurgence after 200 years of being out of pop culture). I'd say he is probably on the toilet and she is riding in her personal drone.
People would likely still get together. I don't see virtual sex replacing real sex anytime soon (not counting sex without a human partner ). As for the com device, the scene gets interrupted by a virtual call from a friend which compounds the situation.
I would have suggested his or her home, a car (or the equivalent of it in your universe), or some other private, secluded place where he won't needlessly embarrass her. No need to make breaking up with someone any shittier than it already is. If I were him, I'd do it in her home. She is saved from the embarrassment of returning home all red and puffy-eyed. If she takes it really hard, she might not even pay attention to her surroundings and get hurt (e.g. traffic accident). I don't know if this is a totally Finnish thing, but I could never imagine breaking up with my bf in public. I've never even heard of anyone in my social circles do that. I think it's cruel and even manipulative ("I don't wanna see her get upset 'cause that's gonna make it worse for me, so if I do it in public, she will have to control herself"), but then again, I can understand if crying or making a scene in public isn't stigmatized/frowned upon over there or in your story's society, in which case I suppose anything goes; a café, bar, park bench, on the beach...
A small cafe over lunch? Will there be any opportunity for food metaphors concerning the breakup? E.g. perhaps they find that their steak is cut into the shape of a heart (or formed in that shape if it's future artificial meat). She hesitates, while he slices right through the middle of it.
