She was trying to be sympathetic.
The voice on the phone was by turns emphatic, subdued, was male and not obviously drunk but she could tell he'd been drinking.
"...I called because, because you know the players, you know what I'm up against, you know what I'm going through..."
"...again", she thought as the voice rambled on.
"You called me because you know I'm three hours ahead of you and I wouldn't be asleep yet." she said, trying to project her half-smile through the miles of fiber-optic telephone line.
"Yeah, well, that too..." he mumbled, voice trailing off.
"So. Are you ok?" Lame, she thought.
"Yes... no... I mean I have it all worked out in my head. I mean my head is ok with this. My head is wonderful. It thinks. Thinking is good. I do a great deal of thinking and it works for me, this thinking thing. When I can just think about it, think not FEEL oh no not FEEL, I'm ok with it..."
She thought she heard a sound during the verbal pause, a swallow of something liquid. He got like this, sometimes. It was about the only time she heard from him. She decided she would decide later if this bothered her.
"Ok...so anyways I made it through the weekend and I got out of there ok..." he continued.
"Where did you go? What did you do?" she asked.
"...we went to the marina, just poked around you know, uhm... we just walked around down where we used to. It was great. It was perfect, if you know what I mean? It had rained but the sun was shining and we were just walking around."
"What happened?" she prodded, wishing as always he'd get to a point. Sometime. Preferably before she had to start dinner for the boys. The green beans needed to be blanched then sautéed.
"...well ok we went to the marina and then later had some great italian at that place around the corner from her. Do you know she's lived for years there right around the corner from this GREAT italian place and she's NEVER been there? I mean you can smell the calamari in garlic from her balcony. If I lived there I couldn't STAND it; I'd be big as a house 'cause I'd be down there all the time, ordering the fettuccine alfredo..."
She rolled her eyes, willing herself not to be impatient with his digressions. This was just the way he gets it out, she sighed, and to try and get him to stick to one subject was like trying to nail an egg to the wall.
"We had the antipasto..." he continued, "...or at least we shared it and ordered some linguini with clams. I remembered she liked that. With the white clam sauce, but we were stuffed from the garlic bread and the salad so we had to take the pasta home in a go-box."
Pause. Another swallow.
Before she could ask him what he was drinking, he went on with a rush.
"So we go back up to her place and we sat around and watched some videos and listened to some music and talked and she said she'd found Jimmy online, you know, Jimmy, from the show? you know, the one that, uhm, is like the whole circus all by himself?"
She knew Jimmy. Jimmy had failed to add her to his list of conquests, despite repeated attempts. She felt a creeping dread of what was coming next.
"Yeah well she said that she and Jimmy had begun....uhm...talking. You know, like messaging online and all that. She added him to her website and he added her to his, uh, you know like he's got like 900 girls on that list. So she says that she wants to get to know him better, that she's, like, INTERESTED in him. And I mean, why NOT? Why NOT? he's got the body of a greek god and he's a real charmer and he's, like, DONE things. He can DO things; he's no one-trick pony, no sirree, he's actually got something to back up his 'pretty'..."
She grimaced. "So, what? It's not like she's planning to screw him."
Silence.
Another swallow.
"Well? She isn't, is she?"
He spoke slowly, carefully articulating.
"She said she wasn't sure that she would."
She thought for a second, grateful for the silence, mindful of its ominous portent.
"Why would she tell -you- this?"
"Why? WHY? BECAUSE I'M HER GODDAM BEST FRIEND!!" he exploded.
"Don't shout at me. I can hear you fine."
"Ok. Sorry. Ok, so she tells me because she can tell me anything, she can be who she really is with me. I didn't set it up this way, it just fell in like this. YES, I show up for it, because she's MY best friend too..."
She smirked into the phone.
"...but I'm not like HIM. I am -not- pretty. All my accomplishments are not finely-honed tools of seduction. Can't blame him though. If I had the right genes I'd ride them into the sunset as often as he does, you bet!"
"Why are you even comparing yourself to him?" she interjected.
"Why?"
Another swallow.
"Yes: why?"
"Because..."
She willed herself to be patient, to let him purge.
"Because..."
Long pause.
"Because... I touch her."
