Episode 15: The Break-Up

A few days have passed since I walked out on Ron this past Saturday and things have not gotten any better between Ron and myself. I have been pushing the thoughts aside and enduring, what can only be described as, this toxic relationship for far too long. So as tough as it was, I have come to a decision. I am going to break up with Ron.

The only problem with that is, I have no idea when, where, or even how I am going to do it. All I know at this point is that it has to be done. I have only talked to Ron on the phone since Saturday and I do not plan on breaking up with him over the phone. He at least deserves to hear it in person. I would have done it after our nightly trip to Stratler’s last night, which was Monday, but he had to work. My next opportunity would be tonight.

I had rehearsed the whole thing in my head since I had come to this decision on Sunday evening. I was nervous all day on Tuesday and kept running through possible scenarios in my head. I drifted through the day, barely getting anything done. It is a wonder how I managed to stay off the radar that day especially given my low productivity.

Upon getting off of work, Stacy drove back to her apartment. As each second passed, she grew more and more nervous over the fact that she was going to break up with Ron on that evening. She kept rehearsing what she had panned to say, but eventually started to think if she could go through with the whole thing.

Then, she reassured herself that it was the right thing to do and regained control over her nerves. When she got home, she began to think about how it was the best for both of them and then a thought occurred.

I am going to be single.

It was a weird feeling for Stacy, seeing as how she had not been single for quite some time. The more she though about it, the more liberated she felt. It was almost as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. But it came crashing back down upon her when she started to think about the daunting task ahead of her.

Ron had not gotten off of work yet, forcing Stacy to take a cab down to Stratler’s, which was no more than a mile and a half away from her apartment building. As fate would have it, upon arriving at Stratler’s, Stacy found Ron awaiting her arrival outside. The greetings were awkward, as the two had not seen each other since Saturday night. The awkwardness did not last long because shortly after Stacy’s arrival, Lauren showed up and the three of them went inside to join their three friends.

Well the night was off to a... well let’s just say it was off. Seeing Ron after I had decided to break up with him was a lot more awkward than I had anticipated. I am just glad that Lauren came along to bail me out. There was, however, a lingering tension between Ron and myself.

When we got inside, we got to listen to another tale of Dustin, the incredible ass. After listening to what he had done to poor Molly, we could not help but laugh.

“Are you serious?” asked Lauren.

“I’m afraid so,” said Joel.

“What a pompous ass,” said Lauren bluntly. “I cannot believe that he did that!”

“I can,” responded Joel sheepishly, raising his beer to his mouth to take a sip.

After everyone shared a laugh and a few more comments about Dustin’s latest stunt, they veered off of the topic and on to a new one.

The night was off to a good start. Well, except for the two ton elephant sitting in the corner. I was ignoring it for now, but I knew that sooner or later, it would have to be addressed. Little did I know, that time would come a lot sooner than later.

Apparently Ron is really insecure, and on top of that, he is very threatened by Joel. Later in the evening, Joel said something funny and apparently Ron did not like how long or hard I laughed. He did not think that it was particularly funny which meant that in no possible way, should it be funny to anyone else, especially me. It couldn’t be the fact that he was not fond of Joel and that is the reason he did not think what he said was funny. Ok, sorry. I will get off of my little tangent here.

After Joel’s funny comment, he went to the restroom and Ron started.

“Why don’t you go with your boyfriend?” asked Ron of Stacy.

Stacy sighed and rolled her eyes. “Ron,” she said, “don’t start with that again.”

“I am just calling it like I see it,” said Ron.

“I said don’t start,” growled Stacy through gritted teeth. She was careful not to raise her voice so that she would not draw the attention of her other friends.

“You are going to sit there and lie to me?” asked Ron, who was growing angrier.

“Lie?” asked Stacy, who was also becoming angry. “I have not said anything that could be misconstrued or interpreted as a lie, Ron.”

“Yeah, whatever,” said Ron. “I am tired of this.”

“You know what? I am too!” said Stacy angrily. She stood and pushed her chair back forcibly, then stormed out of Stratler’s.

Joel exited the restroom to find Stacy marching out of Stratler’s with Ron right on her heels. As he watched the two of them argue through the front window, he quickly made his way back to the table to find out what happened.

Once outside, Stacy and Ron began to argue.

“Why don’t you just admit it?” asked Ron.

“Admit what?” replied Stacy.

“That you are in love with Joel!” shouted Ron.

“Are you that insecure, Ron!?”

“Just admit it, Stacy. I do-”

Stacy stopped Ron in mid-sentence and said, “That’s it, Ron. I can’t do this anymore.”

“What!?” exclaimed Ron, he began to yell uncontrollably as his face turned beet red.

It was not long after, when Ron started at Stacy. Stacy was terrified as she began to back away. Ron took two steps toward her and raised his hand, looking as if he were going to strike Stacy. She raised her hands, putting them in front of her face defensively.

That was the first time that I was legitimately scared of Ron. He had gotten mad before, but never like this. I am not justifying his reaction or coming at me at all, but he had been drinking, which could have caused this heightened reaction. All I know is that he was coming at me and I did not know what was going to happen or what I would even try to do to stop him. I guess it is a good thing that Joel came along.

Before Ron could do anything else, Joel came out of nowhere and punched him right between the eyes. Ron’s feet went out from under him, sending him to the pavement below. When he hit the pavement, he laid there dazed.

Do not get me wrong, I know that Ron had this coming and if it would not have happened, there is no telling what he would have done. Unfortunately the only emotion that came over me was rage. And the only thing I could say was...

Joel was shaking his hand as it was writhing in pain as he turned to face Stacy. She was stunned as she looked up at him. It was almost as if she did not recognize him. “Why would you do that?” she asked.

“Stacy, he was going to hit you,” said Joel, defending his actions.

“So you just hit him!?” yelled Stacy, pushing past Joel to attend to Ron. “You are no better than him!”

“I-I’m sorry Stacy, I don’t know what came over me.”

“Just get away from us!”

Ron’s nose was bleeding pretty badly when I got to him. Good thing somebody on the street who was passing by called 911, because I was starting to panic. Ron, who was an EMT, knew exactly what to do, even in his dazed state. By this time, all of my anger had melted away. One thought repeated itself over and over in my head.

What the hell was Joel thinking?