I lean back in my chair because it’s a relief to hear my buddy’s voice. We’ve been friends since we were small, and I lost touch with her when she and her mother moved to Texas in elementary school, but Lina came back to Prescott last year to open her flower shop, Amazing Blooms. Then, Lina met Tim, her fiancé, and it was a whirlwind relationship. But from what she’s told me, coming back has been the answer to her dreams. Business has been good, and her relationship with Tim is passionate and loving although they also discovered that they used to be step-siblings. It’s a long, convoluted story, but what’s important is that they love each other, and everything’s settled now.
“Hey, girl,” I reply. “How’s life?”
“You know I can’t complain,” she laughs. “Tim’s still at work, but he might be getting off a little early. I’m planning on making something tasty for dinner, but you know what? I’m exhausted. Maybe we should just get takeout again.”
I nod.
“Takeout is always a good option. I heard there are some great new cheap places too.” Of course, I try not to feel jealous at the bliss I hear in my friend’s voice because it only makes me miss Damon more. To distract myself from the pang in my heart, I ask her about her baby. Lina’s been pregnant for a few months now and she doesn’t know the gender of the child yet, so it’s a huge mystery.
“The baby’s fine, but he or she has been moving around a lot,” my friend laughs. “Sometimes I feel like they’re dancing around in there!”
“Aww,” I say. “That’s adorable! I mean, I’m sure it’s uncomfortable for you, but still super cute. Ballet, right?”
She laughs. “More like tap. But what about you, Rach? How have you been?”
I knew this question was coming. I consider parrying with a simple “I’m fine,” but the tears pushing at the back of my eyes makes that impossible. I’ve put on a brave face for the world, but I can’t keep up the lie with my oldest and dearest friend.
“Honestly?” I say in a trembling voice, “Not very good.”
“Oh, honey,” she says in a sympathetic tone. “Tell me.”
I gulp a ragged breath of air.
“It’s been so awful since Damon and I ended things. It’s so, so hard to hold myself together and I miss him desperately.” I sniff, wiping a stray tear away. “Waking up every morning is hard now. This kind of pain and loneliness is something I wouldn’t wish even on my worst enemy, you know?”
“Yes, I know exactly what you mean. You feel like you’re just going through the motions instead of living.”
“Exactly.” I grab a couple of tissues from the box sitting next to me and blow my nose with a loud honk.
“Oh, Rach, I hate hearing you so sad. Do you want to—I mean, have you considered trying again with Damon?”
I laugh, and the sound of it is a little more bitter than I intended. “Only every day.”
“Sorry, maybe that was a dumb question. What I mean is, maybe his reaction wasn’t so terrible.”
“You weren’t there, Lina. You didn’t see what that guy looked like. And Damon was so mad. You could tell he wanted to rip the guy apart and I was really scared.”
“But didn’t you say that that douchebag made you feel uncomfortable? I mean, he literally molested you,” my friend says carefully. There’s some shuffling on her end of the line as she adjusts something. “All I’m saying is that your boyfriend is a former cop who works in security now, and he just wanted to protect you, that’s all. So he lost it a little. But honestly? I think any hardass alpha male would.”
I pause to consider her words. Damon was just trying to protect me, even if his methods were egregious. My friend continues.
“Did he make you feel afraid, Rach?”
I pause for a moment. “No, not at all. I wasn’t afraid of Damon, more for him. I didn’t want him to get in trouble and lose his job because what if they bring charges? How is he going to stay in his current career if he’s a convicted felon?”
My friend laughs a little.
“Well, they haven’t brought charges yet, have they?”
I pause. “No, but they could.”
Lina just snorts.
“Honey, I think you’re getting ahead of yourself. It’s been months now, and nothing’s come of the mall incident. You miss Damon desperately, and again, I think he’s just got a strong streak of protectiveness in him. I know you don’t want to hear this, but maybe it’s time to consider giving him another chance? Maybe he’s realized that behaving like that weirds you out, and he won’t hulk-out on the next guy that looks at you. But honestly, if some strange guy popped my tit out of my top, I’m sure Tim would do far worse. Like a thousand times worse.”