Episode 14: Her Tough Decision

I woke up Saturday morning with a headache, but it was because of more than just the slight hangover that I had. My mind was cluttered. Ron lied, so break up with him right? Wrong. It is not that easy. Ron and I have been through a lot. He has helped me through a lot of tough times as I have for him. I know what he did was wrong and I won’t soon forget about it. He will definitely have to do a lot of groveling to get back on my good side, I will tell you that.

I woke up around nine and spent all morning thinking about the previous night’s events. How could he do that to me? Am I that unbearable to be around that he has to lie to me so he can go out with his friends? I do not remember the last time I was this angry.

My phone started ringing around eleven that morning.

“Wow,” said Stacy, picking up her phone to see Ron’s name on the screen, “He is up before noon on a day that he does not have to work. He must know that he really messed up this time.”

Hmph, this time. I don’t know why I even put up with his mess time after time. How much is too much? He is definitely on thin ice. The more I thought about it, the more I started hoping that the “ice” beneath him would eventually break. Does that make me a bad person? Overall, he has been a good boyfriend. I don’t know what to do.

I ignored the call and went on about my morning, cleaning up my apartment and doing my laundry. Then, about thirty minutes later, my phone rang again. Upon inspecting the screen of my phone, I saw Ron’s name again.

“Nope,” said Stacy, shaking her head and walking away from the table in which her phone rested. “I think I will let you suffer a little longer.”

I had not even begun to think about what I was going to say to him. I couldn’t think about the previous night without wanting to smack him right in the face, which is what I probably should have done. That would have served him right. No, I could not bring myself to strike anyone. That just is not me. I am going to have to get over being mad before I can think about what I want to say. Until then, he can wait.

Unfortunately, he had other ideas. I guess he thought that calling every twenty to thirty minutes would help me get over it faster. He was wrong. I eventually switched my phone over to vibrate and he eventually gave up...after calling eight times and leaving three messages. I actually started to feel bad, but all I had to do to shake that feeling was think about the previous night. At two o’clock Lauren stopped by.

“Hi,” said Stacy with a slight grimace as she opened her door to let Lauren in.

“Hey girl,” responded Lauren. “How are you?”

“Been better,” answered Stacy.

“Have you talked to him?” asked Lauren.

“No. I still haven’t figured out what I want to say to him.”

“Still angry huh?”

“Oh yes,” answered Stacy, shaking her head as she grit her teeth in anger.

Lauren saw that Stacy was becoming upset and immediately began to calm her down. “Easy girl,” said Lauren. “I didn’t come over here to stir you up.”

“I know. It just still angers me that he would do that he would lie to me.”

“I never thought that he would be the type of guy to do that.”

“Yeah, well anyway,” said Stacy. “I’m not going to spend my whole day thinking about it.”

“Good for you,” said Lauren. “We are going out tonight. Do you want to come?”

“Yeah, definitely,” answered Stacy.

It was at that point that there was a knock on the door. Puzzled, Stacy walked over and looked through the peephole. Much to her surprise, there stood Ron, holding a dozen roses. Stacy’s anger immediately melted away at the sight. She immediately opened the door.

“Hey,” said Ron with a half smile.

“Hi,” said Stacy, gazing at Ron, dazed with affection.

“Stacy, I am so sorry,” said Ron, genuine sorrow filled his voice. “I have been torturing myself since last night and I couldn’t stand it anymore, so here I stand, throwing myself at your mercy and begging you to forgive me.”

In all honesty, he could have said pretty much anything right then and I would have forgiven him. Although, my decision to forgive Ron and not dump him was not a popular one with the rest of the group. Being my best friend, Lauren felt as betrayed as I did, but she would not be won back as easily as I was. In fact, she would never trust Ron again.

Stacy all but leapt at Ron, throwing her arms around his neck, then kissing him. “I forgive you,” she said, relinquishing the kiss, “but it better not ever happen again.”

“It won’t.” said Ron, reassuring Stacy.

“Good,” replied Stacy.

Lauren rolled her eyes and grabbed her coat. “I’ll call you later,” she said as she passed Stacy and Ron.

“O-ok,” said Stacy, confused as to why Lauren was leaving with such haste. “See you later.”

Ron did not stay long, eventually leaving after twenty minutes. He stopped by Stacy’s on his way to work. Stacy searched for, and found, a vase for the roses and put them in it. After situating the flowers on her kitchen table, she spent the rest of the afternoon finishing her chores. By the time she was done, it was after five.

After eating dinner, Stacy called Joel to see what everyone had planned for the night ahead. Joel told her that they would be meeting at Stratler’s later that evening, then heading downtown. Stacy had planned on riding with Lauren and Brian, but Ron surprised her yet again by switching shifts and getting off to go out with her. Stacy then texted Joel and Lauren to let them know that the two of them would meet the rest of the group downtown instead of at Stratler’s as previously planned.

I was actually excited about going out. Now that things were fine between Ron and myself, I wanted to put the ugly incident behind us.

When Ron got to Stacy’s, the two of them headed downtown to meet up with the rest of their friends. Stacy mentioned that Joel and Katie were having some problems to Ron in hopes that he would not bring it up. Ron brushed off the comments about Joel as he usually did, which caught the attention of Stacy.

“Are you ok?” asked Stacy.

“Yeah,” said Ron. “I’m fine.”

“Then why did you make that face when I told you about Joel?” asked Stacy. “How many times do I have to tell you that we are just friends?”

“Well it sure doesn’t seem that way,” replied Ron.

“Really, Ron?” asked Stacy, starting to become annoyed. “Are you already starting?”

“Starting what?” asked Ron. “I didn’t say anything. You are the one that brought it up.”

“Whatever,” said Stacy. “Can we just have a nice night out?”

“Yes,” replied Ron.

The two rode in silence until the reached the bar in which their friends were at. When they entered the bar, they located the rest of the group and joined them near the bar to have drinks. Everyone was having a good time, except for Joel, who seemed distant.

Joel was miserable. I wanted nothing more than to walk over and give him a hug, but I did not want to remind him of his sorrows. As we moved from bar to bar, Joel’s mood seemed to get worse. Finally he started to bug John for his phone back which I found humorous. He actually started to sound like his old self.

“Give me my phone,” said Joel.

“Nope,” responded John.

“Come on, John,” pleaded Joel. “I just want to check my messages. I won’t call her.”

“Yes you will.”

“Just give me my phone,” demanded Joel.

“Nope.”

It went on like that for a while until Joel eventually stopped, but then, minutes later, he started again. Finally John handed the phone over to Joel, who headed for the door. He stepped out for a minute before coming right back in. After chatting with Jack for a minute, he came over and said his goodbyes and left. I felt horrible for him, but that feeling quickly passed as Ron started at me again and being that he had some drinks in him, he came right out with it.

“Why don’t you just go with him?” asked Ron of Stacy.

“Ron, don’t start,” responded Stacy. “I just feel bad for him, that’s all.”

“Yeah, right,” said Ron.

“Ok, you are drunk,” said Stacy, “so I am going to let this go. I am, however, leaving.”

After saying her farewells, Stacy left and got a cab which took her home.

I know, I know; Ron and I cannot continue on like this. Time and time again, he took me for granted and I was sick of it. I have a tough decision to make...

Episode 13: A Night Out

Things had settled a bit since Joel blew out Dustin. Although you could not pay the two to get them in the same room together. On a few occasions it actually happened and it was absolutely miserable for everyone. Both of them refused to give any ground. I could understand that on Joel’s behalf, but I still do not see where Dustin gets off being so self righteous. He is completely in the wrong.

Unfortunately, he did not feel that way. Every time we were out and Joel was not coming or had not gotten there yet, all he did was talk about his disdain for Joel and his actions. Sometimes I wonder what it is like to be someone who is completely detached from reality. Then, I am very thankful that I am not like Dustin.

It was Friday night and Ron was at work. Joel had invited me to go with him, Katie, John, Tiffany, Lauren, and Brian to the movies, but I declined. That feeling that hit me the night that Joel and Dustin got into it was still lingering. It was hard to be around Joel and Katie when they were together. I do not know what the deal is. Maybe I am jealous.

So there I sat, in my apartment alone with a bottle of wine, watching some movies.

Stacy sat on her couched, curled up in a blanket. All that was exposed was her head and her hand, which held a glass of wine. She was staring intently at her television. She had just finished her first movie and got up to pop some popcorn for the second at nine fifteen when her cell phone rang.

“Hey, Lauren,” said Stacy, putting her phone to her ear.

“Hey girl,” said Lauren. “Why didn’t you come to the movie?” Stacy hesitated and before she could say anything, Lauren said, “It’s because of Joel and Katie right?”

“Yeah,” answered Stacy. “Hey wait a minute, aren’t you with Brian?”

“Yeah,” replied Lauren. “You should know by now that I tell him everything. He won’t say anything.”

“Fair enough,” said Stacy.

“Girl, you were right,” said Lauren. “Joel is wearing off on you. You just said ‘fair enough’ again.”

“Darnit!” said Stacy. “I made the mistake of saying it in front of him and I never thought I would hear the end of it. I told him that it wasn’t going to happen.”

“Awww, you are so cute!” said Lauren semi-excitedly.

“What do you mean?” asked Stacy.

“When you talk about Joel, you just have a completely different-oh, what’s the word I’m trying to think of-aura, I guess. Even the tone of your voice is different,” explained Lauren. “It is so cute! You two have to get together.”

If only...

“Yeah, well I am with Ron and he is with Katie,” said Stacy.

“About that,” said Lauren curiously. “Have you decided what you are going to do?”

“No, not yet,” answered Stacy.

“Well give it time. It will come to you,” said Lauren. “But if you do feel that strongly about Joel, then it isn’t really fair, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” said Stacy, starting to get lost in her thoughts. “It is just complicated.”

“Do you want to go out?” asked Lauren. “We were going to go home, but you seem like you need to get out of your apartment.”

“I was just going to stay in, but you are right,” said Stacy. “I need to get out.”

“Ok we will pick you up in about fifteen minutes,” said Lauren.

The truth is, I do need to get out of this apartment. I need to go out with my friends so I can have fun and just forget about everything. The longer I sit here, the more I will torture myself about Joel.

When Lauren and Brian arrived, Stacy was waiting downstairs. She was eager to have a carefree night. The three of them decided on Stratler’s, having no idea that Joel, Katie, John, and Tiffany had also chose to go there.

“Thanks guys,” said Stacy, sitting in the backseat of Brian’s mustang.

“Anytime,” said Brian, looking at Stacy through his rearview mirror.

Upon coming down the street that passed right in front of Stratler’s, Brian saw Joel’s Charger in front of them. It was heading away from the bar.

“That’s Joel’s car,” said Brian.

“It is, isn’t it?” asked Lauren rhetorically.

“They are heading home early,” said Brian.

“That’s not like them,” said Lauren. “I wonder if something happened.”

As we came to find out at a later time, Joel and Katie had an argument and that she had stormed out on him. I feel bad when I think about it because I felt relieved that they had left. One of the things that I was trying not to think about on this evening was the way I had felt recently when I saw the two of them together. Little did I know, those feelings would soon be nothing more than a distant memory after what was about to happen.

Stacy, Lauren, and Brian entered Stratler’s and elected to sit at a table rather than a booth. They were forced to wait a few minutes before the waitress came over to greet them. The three of them ordered drinks, Brian a beer and the two girls ordered martinis. Brian was hungry, so he put in an order for cheese fries.

The three of them received their drinks and sat there talking about nothing important at all, which is the way Stacy wanted it. Knowing that this trip was solely to get Stacy’s mind off of her troubles, Lauren and Brian also veered away from any potential topics that would lead her mind back to those thoughts.

After drinking three martinis, the girls took a trip to the restroom, leaving Brian alone with his cheese fries. While eating, Brian looked around at the other patrons, just checking out his surroundings. Shortly after, the front door opened and in walked three men and four girls. One of the men was Ron.

When Ron saw Brian, he looked as if he were a deer caught in the stream of headlights. His eyes widened as his face slowly became pale. He turned and said something to one of his friends and left them standing at the door as he started toward Brian. Unaware that Ron told Stacy that he was working, Brian assumed the Ron had come to join them.

“Hey Ron.” said Brian. “The girls are in the bathroom. They should be out in a minute or so.”

“Brian, this isn’t how it looks,” said Ron.

“What do you mean?” asked Brian.

“Well, uh,” said Ron, before pausing. “Stacy thinks that I am working.”

“Oh,” said Brian, putting the pieces together.

“Yeah,” said Ron, running his hand through his hair. “I gotta get out of here, but you can’t tell Stacy I was here.”

“Do what now?” asked Brian.

“We are guys, Brian,” said Ron arrogantly. “We have to stick together.”

“Um, okay,” said Brian, not sure what to think about this new side of Ron that he had never seen before.

“I’m serious, Brian,” said Ron sternly.

“Whatever you say, Ron,” said Brian, “but it doesn’t look like I will have to keep your secret after all.”

Ron then turned around to see Stacy and Lauren standing behind him. Stacy was looking at him with a confused look on her face. “Ron?” she asked. “I thought you had to work?”

“Well, I,” said Ron, not sure what to say. His awkward pause was then followed by a long silence.

“So you lied?” asked Stacy.

Ron sighed and hung his head. He looked like a boy who was being scolded in school. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“Save it, Ron,” said Stacy angrily. She then turned and ran out of Stratler’s.

Lauren glared at Ron, then turned and followed Stacy. Ron took a deep breath and let it escape his lips as he hung his head once again. He then turned toward Brian. He left a wad of cash on the table that would cover the bill and tip. He then started toward the door, thus walking toward Ron.

“That sucks,” said Brian as he walked past Ron.

Ron was angered by the comment, but he did not respond to Brian in any way. Instead, he stood there staring out of Stratler’s front window in the direction that Stacy had gone.

And just like that, my carefree evening was ruined. I was so angry at that point that I did not even know what to do. Now that I think about it, I don’t know why I didn’t just break-up with him right then and there like any sane human being would have done. The truth is, I knew that I was in a toxic relationship, but why could I not just end it? Am I that big of a mess?

Episode 12: Unbelievable

It has been a couple of weeks since I came to the realization that Joel and I were always going to be just friends and that I was going to be happy for him no matter what. He has been dating Katie since then and I am genuinely happy for him. It was hard at first, but I eventually put my feelings aside. Needless to say, our friendship has never been better.

Not just that, but my relationship with Ron has gotten a lot better. He has been putting forth the extra effort lately and it has made a world of difference. Our relationship almost has the feel of a new relationship. It has been really nice.

Actually the group as a whole has really been clicking lately. That is why what happened next was so bizarre.

It was Tuesday evening, fifteen minutes before six, when Stacy walked into her apartment to change clothes before heading off to Stratler’s to meet her friends. Ron had called and was a few minutes away from her apartment building, so Stacy would have to be hasty. As Stacy was getting ready, her phone rang.

Seeing that it was Lauren, Stacy flipped her phone open and said, “Hey girl, what’s up?”

“Nothing, much,” answered Lauren. “Just getting ready to leave to go to Stratler’s. You are coming right?”

“Yeah,” answered Stacy, “just waiting on Ron to get here.”

“Yeah, I am waiting on Dustin,” replied Lauren.

“You are riding with Dustin?” asked Stacy.

“Yeah, Brian is already there and Dustin offered to swing by and get me since its on the way,” answered Lauren.

“That is surprisingly nice and not in any way obnoxious,” said Stacy. “That isn’t like him.”

“Yeah,” said Lauren, “tell me about it. Very uncharacteristic of him.”

“Maybe he has changed,” said Stacy, pausing to hear Lauren’s reaction. As Lauren started laughing, so did Stacy.

“Yeah right,” said Lauren. “That would be the day.”

Stacy then heard a beep in her ear and lowered her phone to gaze at the screen. Ron’s name came across the screen. Putting the phone back up to her ear she said, “That’s Ron calling. I’ll see you up there.”

“Ok, bye girl,” said Lauren.

Ron let Stacy know that he was almost there, so Stacy finished getting ready and awaited his arrival. Once he picked her up, the two of them headed for Stratler’s, arriving just after everyone else.

As I sat down at the full table with Ron, Joel, Katie, John, Tiffany, Jack, Brian, Lauren, and Dustin. I caught sight of Joel and Katie. I had seen the two of them together before, but for some reason, when I saw them on this evening, it struck me the wrong way. I quickly brushed the uncomfortable feeling and began to enjoy the evening with my friends.

We sat there as we usually did, drinking and having a good time, but the more I watched Joel and Katie, the more I felt uneasy. It felt kind of like jealousy, but why would I feel that way? I was happy for Joel. Again and again I tried to bury the feeling without success. I did finally forget about it, but only after the incident.

It happened a little over an hour and a half after I had gotten there. Ron had to work the night shift, so he was already gone. Brian and Lauren had gone home as well. Joel and Jack had gotten up to buy the next round of drinks, leaving John, his girlfriend Tiffany, Katie, Dustin, and myself sitting at the table. Dustin scooted over and was talking to Katie. It started off as small talk, but then quickly took a turn for the worse. It was when he started speaking quietly and trying to be discreet when I started listening.

“So, how are things going with Joel?” asked Dustin.

“Good so far,” answered Katie.

What is he up to? It was right then that I nudged John so that he would hear it too.

Stacy tapped John, who was sitting right beside her, a few times with her elbow to get his attention. When John looked at her, she motioned her head toward Dustin.

“Well, uh, if it doesn’t work out with the two of you, you should give me a call,” said Dustin.

Oh my God! Did he really just say that? Who would do that to their friend?

Katie, who was taken back by what Dustin had just said, said nothing. Instead, she gave him a weird look and nodded awkwardly.

Stacy leaned over to John, who was growing angry, and asked, “Should we tell Joel?”

“Well hell yeah we should,” said John. He then stood up and began walking over to where Joel stood at the bar; Stacy was right behind him.

“Dude,” said John, nudging Joel. “Dustin is hitting on Katie.”

“Do what now?” asked Joel, turning around.

“Yeah, he did,” said Stacy. “I heard it too.”

I felt bad adding fuel to the fire, but Joel deserved to know.

An angry look came over Joel’s face as he started toward the table. However, Jack stopped him by placing his hand on Joel’s shoulder before he could take more than two strides away from the bar.

“Hold on man,” said Jack. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll tell you what I’d like to do,” said Joel angrily, then stopping himself. “I am tired of him doing stuff like this.”

“You know how he is,” said Jack, trying to calm Joel down. “He does this kind of stuff to me all the time and it makes me mad too. You just have to let it go.”

“On more than one occasion, I have been talking to a girl when we go out and he just comes over and cuts me off in mid-sentence by literally getting in the middle of us,” said Joel, seemingly growing angrier by the second. “Both times that happened, I was ready to say something to him, but you would tell me what you just did: ‘That is just how he is, it makes me mad too, just let it go.’ Well, I am not going to let it go this time, Jack. You may not want to stand up to him, but I sure as hell will.”

John and Stacy watched on silently, nodding in agreement as Joel stated his case to Jack.

I have no idea why Jack was defending Dustin, but good for Joel for not backing down. I do not blame him one bit for being angry. I would be too if I were him.

“Dude, come on,” said Jack. “Don’t make a big deal about this.”

“It is a big deal, Jack!” argued Joel, practically yelling at this point. “He is hitting on my girlfriend. Besides, if no one ever says anything to him, then he will just keep doing stuff like this.”

“We are all friends here, Joel,” said Jack. “He wouldn’t do anything like that intentionally.”

“Friends don’t do that and obviously he would do something like this intentionally because he just did it,” said Joel sternly, turning back toward the table.

The way Jack was defending Dustin was really bugging me. It just did not sit right with me. It really made me question his character. From that day on I was definitely wary of Dustin, but also a little so about Jack as well.

It was at that time that Kaite looked over at Joel with a disgusted look on her face. Joel saw this and motioned for her to come over. As she stood and walked over to where he was, Joel asked Jack, John, and Stacy if he could talk to her alone. The three of them agreed and returned to the table.

When I got back to the table I sat down across from Dustin, who had a smug grin on his face. He looked to be so proud of himself. However, I did not pay much attention to him because not long after, Joel came marching over to the table to confront Dustin.

Upon arriving at the table, Joel stood across from Dustin and asked, “What do you think you are doing?”

“What are you talking about?” asked Dustin, a look of confusion came over his face.

Not only did Dustin’s arrogance make Joel angrier, it made me mad as well.

“You know exactly what I am talking about,” said Joel, almost shouting. “Do you really think it is ok to hit on my girlfriend?”

“I didn’t hit on your girlfriend,” said Dustin defensively.

What a liar! My disdain for Dustin was growing with each passing second.

“Oh, so you didn’t say that if it doesn’t work out between me and he that she should call you?” asked Joel. “You didn’t say that she should be with a guy like you instead of me?”

“No,” responded Dustin, offended by the accusations.

“You are unbelievable!” shouted Joel.

“You were obviously lied to,” said Dustin smugly.

“Yeah, I have been lied to,” said Joel calmly, “by you. Because three people would not all fabricate the same exact story.”

“Man, forget this,” said Dustin, standing and grabbing his coat. “I’m leaving.”

“That’s what I thought,” said Joel. “Deny it til the end and run away like you always do. And by the way, don’t talk to Katie anymore.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” responded Dustin angrily. He then put on his coat and left Stratler’s.

After Dustin left, everyone sat quietly just watching Joel. After a while things returned to normal, but the tension was still there and understandably so. Dustin was way out of line with what he did. Who does that to a friend? You think you know someone, then they go and do something like that. Unbelieveable...

Are You Serious??

So, a man in Georgia robbed a convenient store. No big deal right? Wrong. Prior to robbing the store, the guy filled out an application, filling in his real name and phone number, and left it behind. That's right: HE LEFT IT BEHIND!

Is it me or are people getting more and more stupid everyday?

How can you possibly be that dumb? At least write the wrong name. Not only that, but the guy lived in the apartment complex right next door. The best part about this is, there is a video of the whole thing floating around on the internet. Priceless...

Episode 11: Just Friends

I know that not telling Joel how I feel was the right decision. I have a boyfriend and I do not think that he feels the same way about me. Besides, I wouldn’t want anything to ruin our friendship. So if it was the right decision then why do I feel so horrible? It happened three days ago and I still cannot shake off this wretched feeling. Joel had not showed up at Stratler’s for the past few days either, which made it a little easier considering the weird moment we had outside of my apartment.

After the feeling the night had took on from our conversation during our walk home, the end of it was a train wreck. I just hope that I wasn’t the reason that Joel was shying away from Stratler’s. I wish I could see him just so I would know that everything was alright between us.

Anyway, it’s Friday night and Ron, Brian, Lauren, and myself decided to go out on a double date. Lauren and I have become pretty close since she started dating Brian and joined our group. I really enjoy going off with her seeing as how we are the only two girls in the group other than the ones the boys date. Some of them are actually pretty cool-I say actually because the guys don’t have a good track record as far as choosing girls goes-and Lauren and I try to befriend them even after the break-ups, but none of them stick, so the two of us have to stick together.

Stacy had not been home long before her cell phone started ringing. Each time her phone rang, Stacy leapt up and dashed over in hopes that it was Joel, thus signifying that everything between them was ok, but it was not. The first call she got was from Lauren to decide where they wanted to eat. Then next call was from Ron to find out what time he should pick her up.

After getting partially ready, Stacy decided to just call Joel. She picked up her cell phone and scrolled through her numbers. Upon coming to Joel’s name she paused, thus highlighting his name and number, but did not hit the green call button. After staring at the screen of her phone for a moment, she flipped the top part down, closing the phone. She held it in her hand as she paced around her apartment.

I can’t just call him for no reason. What could I call about? To see what he is doing tonight? No, I can’t do that because we already have plans. To see why he hasn’t been at Stratler’s? No, I don’t want to seem to needy. Just forget it...

Stacy paused momentarily and placed the phone on her coffee table. She then continued on to her room where she returned to getting ready for the night ahead. After she was ready, she walked into the kitchen area of her apartment and reached up and pulled a bottle of wine off of the top of the refrigerator. After retrieving a wine glass from one of the cabinets, she took the bottle of wine into the living room and sat on the couch.

She poured a glass of wine then turned on the television. After flipping through some channels, she determined that she was not in the mood for TV, so she sat there and sipped on her wine attempting to get lost in her thoughts while waiting for Ron to come pick her up.

After two glasses of wine, Stacy had accrued a small buzz. She had only planned on having one glass, but upon inspecting the clock after her first glass, she had discovered that Ron was twenty minutes late. Frustrated, she decided to have another glass. Another ten minutes passed, which made Ron thirty minutes late, when Stacy got a call from Lauren.

Flipping her phone open, Stacy said, “Hello.”

“Hey girl,” said Lauren. “Are you on your way?”

“No,” answered Stacy, taking in and letting out a deep breath. “Ron is late yet again.”

“Again?” asked Lauren.

“Yep,” said Stacy, obviously irritated.

“Do you want us to come get you?” asked Lauren.

“No,” replied Stacy, “I might just stay in if he does not show up in the next twenty minutes or so, but thanks for offering.”

“You have to come out,” protested Lauren.

Before Stacy could answer, there was a knock at her door. She told Lauren to hang on as she rose from the couch and walked over to the door. She looked through the peep hole to see Ron standing on the other side. She brought her phone back up to her ear as she turned the deadbolt and opened the door.

“He finally decided to show up,” said Stacy to Lauren as she glared at Ron.

“Ok,” replied Lauren. “See you in a bit.”

“Ok, bye,” answered Stacy. She then hung up her phone and turned away from Ron. She walked over to her bottle of wine, put the cork back into the opening at the top, picked it up, and started toward the kitchen.

“Not going to say hey?” asked Ron, watching Stacy walk to the kitchen and set her glass in the sink and then return the wine bottle to the top of the refrigerator.

“You’re late,” said Stacy bluntly, not looking at Ron as she walked to her room. She returned a short time later with her purse. “I would just say that I am not going to go out, but Lauren really wants to hang out and I would not leave her hanging.”

“I am sorry-“ started Ron before getting cut off by Stacy.

“Save it,” interrupted Stacy. “I should be accustomed to you being late by now, but for some reason I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe, you will actually show up on time for once.”

“Is it that big of a deal?” asked Ron nonchalantly.

“Actually,” answered Stacy, growing angrier, “it is, because it just shows how selfish you are.”

Ron let out a sigh. “Can we just go?”

“Gladly,” said Stacy as she walked by Ron and out the door. She stood there and waited for him to exit, then locked the door and the two of them were off.

Ron tried to talk to Stacy during their car trip to the restaurant where they would be meeting Brian and Lauren, but Stacy ignored him as she stared out the window. Ron finally gave up and turned the music up in order to fill the silence.

When the two arrived at the restaurant, they exited the car and walked in. They walked past the hostess and into the dining area, looking for Brian and Lauren. Upon finding them, they walked over and sat down at the table.

“Hey guys,” said Lauren with a smile. “You made it.”

“Sorry we are late,” replied Stacy.

“It’s fine,” said Lauren. “I am just glad that you are here.”

And with that, Stacy’s anger melted away as she got lost in a conversation with Lauren. Soon after, Brian and Ron engaged in their own conversation as the four of them enjoyed dinner.

As the night continued, my anger toward Ron eventually faded and I started to have a good time. However, my thoughts kept drifting back to Joel. I could not help but replay the other night’s events over and over in my mind. I wonder what he is doing right now?

After dinner, the four of them went back to Brian and Dustin’s apartment to watch a movie and hangout. As the night wore on, it did not get any easier for Stacy, whose thoughts continued to consist of Joel. The overwhelming, nagging feeling she had that there was something wrong between the two of them only continued to grow. Finally she decided that she needed to see him. She had to talk to him to see once and for all that nothing was wrong.

After indiscreetly prompting Brian to text Dustin and find out where they were, she suggested that they go out. Brian and Lauren turned down the invite, but Ron was more than willing to go. When Stacy and Ron left Brian’s apartment, they headed downtown toward the Dirty Sanchez.

Stacy found herself more and more anxious to reach downtown the closer her and Ron got. As usual, Ron dropped Stacy off in front of the bar so that she would not have to walk and drove off to find a parking spot. Stacy showed her licence to the doorman and traversed the front door. When Stacy walked through the door of the Dirty Sanchez, she immediately caught sight of Joel standing alone by the bar.

He looked so sad standing there by himself. I just wanted to hug him. Then, out of nowhere, a dark-haired girl walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. I watched them for a few minutes, waiting for an opening to approach Joel, but it never came. They seemed to hit it off really well.

Then, as I continued to watch them, my heart dropped. It was like he had forgotten that I even existed. Actually, I don’t know why I was thinking that. It’s not like I made myself available to him, or that I was even available in the first place. I guess I just thought...no, never mind; it doesn’t matter now.

Before Ron could walk in, Stacy turned and walked out of the Dirty Sanchez.

“I don’t feel so well,” said Stacy. “Can we go?”

Ron was confused, but seeing as how he was already on thin ice for being late earlier that night, he decided not to press the issue. “Ok,” he said.

On the way home, Stacy was deep in thought.

She doesn’t deserve him. Hmph, what am I saying? Neither do I. Wait, why am I acting like this? It was right then, that I decided that I was going to be happy for Joel. I just wanted him to be happy even if that is something that I could not offer him. He deserves to be happy... even if it makes me miserable. I guess I am just going to have to accept the fact that we are always going to be just friends.