I was having a horrible day. My girlfriend of several months, Isabella, had gone out of town to go to a conference. Usually, that wouldn't be a problem, but we had been having some issues as of late, and, for the past two weeks she had been texting another man. I had seen some of the texts over her shoulder and I had seen her sweet smile every time he text. It killed me to think something might be going on, but, alas, it's what I thought.
I sat at home after she'd left, just thinking. The first night she was gone, there were no calls, no texts saying she made it there. I only had one plan of action, and I felt guilty, but I implemented it anyway. Several hours later, my buddy, whom I'd saved his ass a time or two called. He told me he had some pictures of Isabella with another man, a man who was speaking at the conference and he wanted to warn me before sending them my way. I agreed that I was certain they would be painful, but, I needed to see what was going on.
Pretty soon my phone beeped with Darin's pics. There they were; Isabella and Jay, holding hands at the bar, kissing in the hallway, and going into the hotel room. I was broken-hearted. I quickly shut off my phone and lay on the couch. Here I was, a mid-30's man, in a relationship with the woman of my dreams, and she was cheating on me. I broke down and cried. I must have fallen asleep because it was dark when there was a knock at the door.
I went to the door, and tried to throw my hair back into some semblance of order. I unlocked the door and opened it. I saw a small red car in the driveway and when I opened the glass door, around the corner I saw Isabella's best friend Gillian. Gillian was huddled against the wall out fighting the wind.
I told Gillian hello and told her that Isabella was gone for the weekend. She told me she had forgotten until the moment I had opened the door. We both stood there for a moment, in awkward silence. Gillian asked me if I was okay, and commented that my eyes looked puffy.
I told her I had received some bad news and I had been upset when I fell asleep on the couch. Gillian asked if she could come in, and reluctantly, I stepped aside and let her in
She asked what was going on, and I told her that I wanted to say, but it involved Isabella, and knowing they were best friends, I didn't want to ruin that. Gillian looked me in the eyes and stated "She's cheating on you." I dropped my head in shame. Even her best friend knew. What kind of fool I must look like.
Gillian grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. "I know what it's like to be on this end of things, hon." We held each other for a while, until it became uncomfortable. Not physically of course, but, well, it was going to be getting physically uncomfortable in the pants had we held on much longer.
I released her and smiled. I felt a bit better already.
