The next three days were pure hell for Andrea. She just wanted to reach out and hug Stix but Stix avoided her at every turn. They did a corporate meeting Friday night, two weddings Saturday and a third Sunday afternoon. She looked for opportunities to tell Stix she was sorry but never had the chance. Stix was on the floor early and left without going to the locker room.
Andrea was desperate now. Her plan was to corner Stix in the locker room and ask/beg for a minute to explain herself. It was Sunday and she wouldn't see Stix for a few days and she wanted to try to clear the air with her. She noticed Stix held back from going to the locker room with everyone else so she took her time getting changed. Maria and Janet had already left and Gloria was just taking her time. Andrea really didn't want to get into a discussion with Stix in front of Gloria but she had to take the opportunity.
A few minutes later Stix walked into the locker room, turned the corner and saw Andrea standing by her locker. It looked for a minute as if Stix had decided to turn and walk away but, instead, she walked over to her locker and grabber her belongings. Andrea knew she had to act. She gently put her hand on Stix's shoulder.
"Stix?"
Stix swung around and shrugged Andrea's hand off her shoulder.
"No. Andrea... no," was all she said and quickly left.
Andrea sunk to the bench and tears formed in her eyes. It was as if a final decision had been rendered, swiftly and without question. Andrea had lost her friend. A few seconds later she felt Gloria sit down next to her.
"You know," she said softly, "people react differently to things around them."
"I hurt Stix," Andrea responded. "I didn't mean to. I just want to be her friend. I thought I WAS her friend."
Gloria shook her head in disagreement.
"Child, people view things differently and I think that's the problem here. Yes, you treated her like a friend. That's nice. But Stix was treating you like a lover. She saw the relationship as two people who were in love. You saw it as two friends."
Gloria paused to let that sink in and then continued.
"I've seen that look before. The look Stix had when she was with you. I raised three girls and each one of them was in and out of love. I've seen the look before. The look when someone was in love and the look when love hurt them. I'm not here to say which of you were right but I can say that unless two people see this type of relationship the same way, things are bound to get messy. People are bound to get their feelings hurt."
Gloria patted Andrea's leg and smiled.
"I'll pray tonight for both of you to find peace with yourselves and each other. You're both good people and were good together, whether as friends or lovers."
Gloria got up, said good night and left Andrea with tears streaming down her face. How could she not have seen this? Did she lead Stix on? Should she been more aware of how Stix felt. Andrea was mad at herself because she should have known, should have realized that Stix was in love with her and she had treated Stix poorly. She gathered her bag and jacket and headed home.
She arrived home to an empty house, which was fine with her. She couldn't stop crying and didn't want to have to explain herself to Mike, who was out with the boys again or to Mike Jr. who was at college. She didn't even want to eat. It was about 8:00 when she changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and climbed into bed. She curled up and kept playing Stix's words in her mind, and the more she did, the worse she felt. She knew at this point there was probably no reconciling with Stix. It's bad enough to treat someone poorly once, but then a second time. Why would Stix even give her the time of day? And then there was her job. How could she look Stix in the face again? The more she thought about it, the worse she felt.
A little before midnight she heard Mike pull into the driveway... one more thing that she would have to deal with. But not tonight. She wasn't in the mood to have sex with him, to give him a blow job or to take his ejaculate on her face or breasts. No, not tonight. She just wanted to be left alone. Alone... that's what she was... alone in a marriage and alone from her best friend. Andrea just curled up and wished she could fall asleep and wake up from this bad dream.
She heard Mike walk into the bedroom. His routine was the same every night... keys on the dresser, shoes kicked off, clothes thrown on the floor and heavily climbing on the bed. Didn't matter if she was awake or asleep... the noise and movement was the same. She felt his hand on her shoulder pulling her on to her back.
