They remain friends.Īfter evenings with Jackie and Sarah, Rob decides that he sees his past in a new light and begins to blame himself less for his failures. While Rob has always liked the idea of dating a musician, the situation with Marie is ultimately unsatisfying. After a long, complicated talk about their ex-partners, they spend the night together. Rob and Marie meet in a bar and return to her apartment. Rob decides that both situations are not his fault, so he begins to feel better. He learns that Alison Ashworth is now married to one of Rob’s former schoolmates in Australia, while Penny Hardwick reminds Rob that he broke up with her because she was reluctant to have sex with him. He works his way through the list of top five break ups to understand why he has failed so miserably to find love. Rob decides that the best way to resolve his current crisis is to return to his past. He realizes that she left him and moved in with their former neighbor, Ian, which makes him even more angry. Rob is impressed and immediately attracted to Marie, but he cannot stop thinking about Laura. They watch an American singer named Marie LaSalle perform. Rob feels irritable and alienated after Laura’s departure nevertheless, he accepts an invitation from Barry and Dick to attend a concert. All three men are equally as obsessed with pop music, and they habitually create top five lists of their favorite songs, albums, and artists with increasingly tenuous parameters. Dick is shy and awkward while Barry is outgoing and obnoxious. Rob returns to work, where he spends his days arguing about music with his two employees.

He gives a detailed breakdown of the five women who he believes have had the most devastating impact on his life, including Alison Ashworth, Penny Hardwick, Jackie Allen, Charlie Nicholson, and Sarah Kendrew. He creates a list of his top five worst break ups of all time but insists that Laura does not even make the top five. When his girlfriend Laura breaks up with him, he struggles to cope. Rob Fleming is the 35-year-old owner of a record store in London.

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