This conversation sure did take a turn!
Full disclosure: A lot of Gabby and Guy's relationship is based on my own experience dating a 20 year-old college girl, when I was 32. She needed a mature guy to take care of her a bit, and I needed the confidence boost of dating a younger woman, after a bad break-up. But, the relationship had a lot of problems, and 90% of them were just down to the reality that we were both in different places in our lives. That's not a bad thing, but it is a thing, and it cut both ways.
I brought her to a wedding reception for a good friend of mine, and she left near-tears because she felt so out of place around a bunch of adult professionals. She just felt like she didn't have anything to talk about. On the flip-side of that, she avoided so much as bringing me around her college friends, because she worried about being judged for dating an 'old guy.'
Then there's just the reality of dating someone who doesn't have your financial means. Want to go on a trip, or even just out to dinner/a show? Well, if you're in the older/more established position, you're paying. Or you can do something that your younger partner can afford to split with you -- which usually means something in the range of $50. Maybe sometimes they'll even treat you to a pizza.
Oh, but forget taking your younger partner to anywhere alcohol is being served. There's a comedian in town, or a cool band doing a house show? Well, your partner's not 21, so they can't go. Are you going to be a jerk and go by yourself? That'll go over well.
These are just surface-level problems, mind you. There's always more, if you dig a bit. But all this stuff, in my experience, creates an imbalance in the relationship. You're simply not on the same playing field of life. That doesn't mean someone's being abused, or taken advantage of. It just means that you have more problems to tackle, than someone in a more conventional relationship. If you don't deal with those problems, then over time they'll lead to resentment, and little problems become big problems, which lead to the end of the relationship.
My relationship ended when she went to a college party (which I couldn't attend because -- old), got drunk, and made out with a guy. That then lead to the discussion about how, "I didn't think we were exclusive, just seeing each other, and.." so on and so forth. And here's the thing -- I wasn't really mad about it. Because I'd been 20, and drunk, and horny before. But, I realized that she needed to go out and being young and crazy for a while, and I needed to find a healthier coping mechanism for my depression, than fucking girls that were still in college.
I'm writing Gabby and Guy's relationship to have a possible happy ending. So, obviously I believe that an age gap relationship can work. But, it comes with its own problems that are entirely divorced from the problems that many of the other love interests have.
Pepper works, and supports herself. Viola works, and supports herself and her mother. Mason's had a lot of experience with the harsh realities of life. All of them have had to grow up fast, and Gabby really hasn't. She still lives at home. Her only job is in the place that her family owns. She has problems, but in a lot of ways she hasn't really had to take care of herself, and figure out who she is. That's part of her journey, and part of what I think makes her character, and her romance with the player, interesting.
