I didn't take the break-up well.
I had been with my girlfriend for four years and I even planned to propose to her. When she sat me down to "talk" I was completely blindsided.
It had been two weeks since she left me and, while I was eventually able to force myself to eat, I still struggled with the torment of emotions churning within me.
My only saving grace was my best friend, Kevin.
I'd known Kevin since middle school, and he'd been like a brother to me since then. We'd always supported each other through tough times, and this was one of them.
He was the first person I called after my ex broke up with me, and I would call him every time I felt my lowest.
This was one of those times.
"Are you busy?" I texted him.
"Come over. We'll talk." Was the response. He already knew. There's a reason we were best friends.
Not half an hour later, we were sitting together on the floor of his living room. Kevin served me cheap, premixed margaritas-he wasn't drinking since he was on-call for work-and I spilled my guts out for the hundredth time in the past fortnight.
"I just don't know what to do with myself, Kev. Leanne was everything to me. I don't understand what I did wrong to make her leave after all this time" I confessed between sips of the too-sweet cocktail.
"Sometimes you don't do anything wrong. Maybe she's the one who did something wrong by leaving." It was the first thing he had said in a long while and it made me feel better. He knew exactly what to say and when to listen.
I continued talking through my feelings, and Kevin continued to listen, both of us losing track of the time until his roommate walked in the door.
"Hey guys! What's going on?" Mari greeted the both of us. She was in a good mood. At least somebody was.
Spying the alcohol, she didn't wait for a response.
"Oooh margaritas! Don't mind if I do," she said as she took a seat with us and poured herself a glass, filling it to the brim and immediately draining half.
Kevin spoke up.
"Hey Mari, you remember David?" he asked, gesturing towards me.
Mari turned to me with a smile which faded into concern when she saw my expression.
"Hey Dav- oh, what's wrong honey? You look awful, what's the matter?"
"Hey Mari, my, um, my girlfriend left me. Was just talking with Kev about it. Sorry if I'm taking up your space." I didn't make eye contact with her. It was always awkward admitting I'd been dumped.
"Aww honey, don't apologize. Come here," Mari gave me a big hug. We had only briefly interacted before, so it was somewhat strange that she was so caring.
But her kind gesture broke the awkwardness, somehow. It felt like she was genuinely looking out for my well-being.
Not only that, it felt nice to be touched by a woman after two weeks.
"You can talk about it all you want, David. Really, get it off your chest. I'm here to listen, but if you're not comfortable, I can leave."
Mari and Kevin got along well, though they never seemed to be more than friends. At times when he was single, I would jokingly encourage him to take her out. After all, she was cute, smart, had a nice butt, and seemingly always in a good mood. Kevin never seemed interested in pursuing her, though.
"Nah, you can stay Mari" I said, "I kind of feel better being able to admit that the relationship is over to someone other than Kevin. And it would be nice to have a woman's perspective on this sort of thing."
The three of us talked, Mari and I polishing off a bottle and starting on a second, and then talked some more. Kevin and Mari did a lot of listening, both giving me sorely needed perspective and just letting me vent.
I noticed that, for someone I wasn't really close with, Mari was sitting close to me. When I talked about something difficult, she reassured me with a hand on my knee or by telling me it wasn't my fault.
After some time I finally made the breakthrough that the relationship wasn't as good as I had thought. Kevin and Mari were able to point out red flags that I missed or, in some cases, chose to ignore.
This made me feel better about being single again, though the fact that we had now finished two bottles of margaritas probably helped, too.
Eventually, the conversation shifted to less depressing subjects, and the three of us continued chatting about life, relationships, and anything else that came up.
Every so often, Kevin or Mari would crack a joke to lighten the mood, and Mari would look at me and place her hand on my thigh as we laughed together. Somehow, it felt natural. Even though I hadn't talked to her much before that night, I felt as comfortable around her as I did with Kevin.
And, it may have been the alcohol, but I suspected the looks she gave me weren't just friendly.
Suddenly, Kevin's phone started to ring.
"Ah shit, it's work. I gotta go," he said as he headed to his room to answer the call. A minute later he was back, dressed in hospital scrubs.
"They're calling me in. Sorry Dave, I gotta duck out. But we can talk some other time."
