Evie stood at the door red-eyed. It was obvious that she had been crying.
I should explain. Evie is the 19 year-old daughter of my best college buddy Paul. I'm Alex, a recently divorced guy, living in Florida. I don't have any kids of my own, but feel like a pseudo-uncle to Evie, as I've watched her grow up.
Back from college for the holidays, Evie was wearing joggers and a college hoodie, her long red hair framing her pretty pale face, her blue eyes puffy red with tears.
"Oh, hi Alex," she stammered.
"Hi Evie, is your dad in?" I asked. "I'm just returning the drill I borrowed".
"No, he's golfing," she replied. "And mom is away on a girl's weekend".
There was a pause.
"Er, are you okay Evie?" I inquired. "You look like you've been crying".
"No, I'm okay. I'm good" she said, unconvincingly.
I looked at her and said nothing. Then she seemed to make a decision.
"You can come in and wait for him if you'd like" she said. "He shouldn't be long".
She led me through to the kitchen, opened the fridge and offered me a beer, taking one herself as we settled down at the breakfast bar.
After an uncomfortable silence, I decided to dive in.
"So what's up Evie? I know there's something wrong. You know you can talk to me about anything" I reassured her.
She thought for a moment, gave a sigh and said "It's James. He's my boyfriend from college". Paul had mentioned that there was some boy on the scene, but that he seemed like a good guy.
"Has he done something to hurt you?" I asked, getting concerned.
"No, no, nothing like that" she said quickly. "He treats me really well. He'll do anything for me".