Post-modern post credit scenes in romantic comedies

Do you ever wonder what happens after the “happy ending” in a rom-com? Does your brain like challenging your positivity every once in in a while? Every woman I know identifies with some part of the protagonist in these movies. But what if the women in the movies themselves led lives like the women we know? What might the post-credits be?

Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth discovers Mr. Darcy has both pride and prejudice in the relationship and takes off on a solo carriage trip across Europe to re-discover herself.

Notting Hill: Elise, Will and Anna’s daughter, grows up with an identity crisis. She experiences brief moments of despair as she orders chips at the restaurant and receives looks of bewilderment instead of fries.

10 things I hate about you: Kat is now at Sarah Lawrence college. Her dorm-mate is an over-achieving Asian who has OCD. On a journey toward acceptance, Kat lists down the 10 things she hates about Yu.

Bridget Jones’ diary: Following a brief episode of existential crisis, Bridget goes to a farm for the weekend and comes back to discover that her alarmed family had filed a missing complaint with the police. Her entire neighborhood now has a detailed review of her vibrator.

Pretty woman: Vivian moves in with Edward. During spring cleaning, she stumbles upon his collection of sex toys and blow-up dolls in the attic. Just like he couldn’t drive stick, she discovers that Edward has discarded most of them due to lack of required knowledge to operate the more sophisticated ones. Vivian turns Edward’s rescuer.

Sense and sensibility: Having spent years assisting her husband Edward Ferrars with his sermons, Elinor Dashwood begins to freelance and assist clergymen across England to deliver sermons that could keep people up. Devonshire discovers that all along, what they were trying to make sense of was waking up early on Sundays.

My best friend’s wedding: Kimmy now has to attend her best friend Emily’s wedding. She invites Jules to be a part of the wedding as a food consultant. Emily and Jules realise they have a lot of chemistry. There is no wedding.

Sleepless in Seattle: Jonah, the once eight-year-old who called the radio station to talk about his dad’s loneliness, is now an adult. He never has a sequel to his dad’s love story because he has fallen into the habit of taking sleeping pills.

When Harry met Sally: Having married each other a whole 12 years after they first met each other, communication problems still haunt Harry and Sally. They are yet to decide which model of the dishwasher would be best suited for their everyday needs.

If ordinary events were to lie beyond “happy endings”, what would they be?