I ran into Jake, David’s friend at the local jeweler. I was there to pick up some stones and Jake was paying for his crass necklace. I admit that I never thought highly of Jake and did meet him a few times when David was out and about with his other girlfriends.
“Hey gorgeous,” he said in that tough talking alpha male voice that gets me so…bored. I really hate those types of guys.
“Oh hey. Jake, was it?”
“Yeah, don’t forget that name. It’s worth money.”
“Ahh,” I said with a fake laugh. “Well, it was nice seeing you again. Sort of.”
“Hey wait up. I kind of wanted to talk to you.”
“I kinda sort of don’t.”
“You mad, bro? What’s wrong? Why are you so touchy, woman?”
“Actually, David and I are not talking at the moment. So you’re probably just guilty by association. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
“No hard feelings, babe”, he said with an unctuous smile.
“Actually, it’s not David. I just don’t like you.”
“What?! Oh now the truth comes out! Why don’t you like me, anyway?”
“I dunno. You remind me of a guy that bets on horse races. Just sleazy. Scummy.”
“Man, you are a tough broad, you know that?”
“Yeah I am. And why are you a man wearing a necklace anyway?” I said, noticing he was holding a rather flashy necklace in his hand. “Are you trying to bring the 1980s car dealer look back into fashion?”
He laughed. Should I feel bad about busting a guy’s chops so bad if he enjoys it?
“Hey,” he said with a pointing finger. “You asked if there were no hard feelings? There are now. In my pants.”
“Screw you,” I said with a sarcastic smile.
“Hey, for real,” he said touching my forearm and earning a scowl. “Why are you and David not talking? I heard he broke up with Crystal. You really mean to tell me after he went through all that shit, you’re still friend-zoning him? That’s cold, man.”
I sent him daggers and shook my head. “You know nothing about us. Our history.”
“Well I know you two have been friends forever, even before I knew him.”
“Well for your information, even though it’s none of your business, David is acting irrational. He needs to grow up before he pursues a relationship with anybody.”
Jake laughed boisterously. “Gimme a break. You know why he’s being irrational, Amelia. He’s in love with you. He’s been in love with you for like twenty years. He left a cheerleader for you.”
“I know.”
“I mean a really good cheerleader…” Jake said, wide eyed and making “boob” gestures to emphasize the point. “She was hot.”
“I’m sure she was.”
“Look, you know David is just weird about talking over his feelings. He says stupid things. He does stupid things. But how can you deny that he loves you?”
“I do love David,” I said cautiously. “I always will. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.”
“This is like the first time you’ve been single in a long time. You should give him a chance. Let him apologize, make it up to you.”
“I don’t know why I’m talking to you about this,” I said. “But for your information, I’ve already met someone else. David has to learn that his ‘whims’ are not what a loving relationship is built on.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Look!” I shouted. “You obviously have only heard David’s side of everything. You DON’T know what happened in our history. You don’t. All you know is that we’ve been friends for a long time. That’s all. So what gives you the right to judge me?”
“Ah well, call me a sucker. I just like romance. I like love stories to end happy.”
“Yeah well,” I sneered back at him. “Not all love stories end happily ever after. Sometimes life is just cruel.”
Jake shrugged it off, by now figuring since I already disliked him, he had nothing to lose at this point.
“Hey Amelia, you can still give me a happy ending.”
“Go to Hell, smart-ass.”
I know Jake, David and all sorts of other jock guys will never understand. But there’s something very sacred about a woman’s trust and David violated my trust. When I finished things with Pete, I swore I would never be put in that position again. David did do things to me, he made me feel desire, of course he did. I’m not denying that.
But he put a very important friendship at risk and so brazenly. That’s why I backed off. And now, neither of us have anything anymore. We lost the friendship and the relationship. And that’s what people just don’t fucking get about turning friendship into romance. There’s too much at risk…and like that it’s all gone.