The bartender cleared his throat. “Yeah, I already heard that one.” He smiled sheepishly at us. “And you’re not alone, let me tell you. It’s happened to a lot of men who’ve sat at this very bar.”
Alex looked over at me. “Your turn then.”
“Okay.” I took another sip from my drink and then launched into my story. Leaving out none of the gory, embarrassing details. By the end of it I had two pairs of eyes staring at me in horror.
“Wow,” Alex said, shaking his head, “and how many people were there?”
“At least eighty.”
I watched them both as they took it all in. “And if you want, you can watch the video online too, since someone filmed and posted it.”
“God! I’m so sorry,” Alex said, looking at me with genuine concern.
“Yeah, honestly, that’s one of the most embarrassing stories I’ve ever heard,” the bartender confirmed.
“So, which one is worse?” Alex asked.
“Mmmm?” The bartender put his elbows on the bar and held his head in his hands, looking from me to Alex and back again. He was taking this very seriously. “So . . . you both had your hearts broken. That’s a tie. And one found out his girlfriend was cheating, but the other did spill her guts to the entire world.”
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically.
“I’d say it’s a tie then,” he finally said. “Cheating on a par with public embarrassment.”
“Wait!” I jumped up, the alcohol swishing through me. “I forgot to tell you that someone live-tweeted the event too, and it got hundreds of likes and retweets.”
“Really? Well, that changes everything,” the bartender said.
“Wait,” Alex jumped in now. “She changed her social media relationship status the very next day to dating him instead of me.”
“Also bad.” The bartender looked from Alex to me and back again. “I know, you two should just hook up. It would be one of those funny wedding stories you could tell,” he said, and then was called away by someone else.
“Hey, who won?’ we both yelled after him, ignoring what he’d just said.
“It’s a tie,” he shouted over his shoulder.
Alex and I sat back in our seats and looked at each other for a while. “I guess you can put that away,” I finally said, pointing at the box.
“Yes. I guess I can.” He grabbed the ring box and slipped it into his pocket.
“Just out of curiosity, why are you carrying that around with you?”
He looked genuinely confused at the question. As if he’d never considered it before. Then he looked me straight in the eye. “Honestly,” he started nodding his head as if an epiphany was dawning on him, “I think I’m just trying to hold onto something of her.’
I nodded. I could relate. Suddenly I could feel the weight of the diary in my bag.
11 April
Dear Diary,
Worst news.
Devastating.
Not sure how to contain myself. Have managed to wipe tears away sufficiently in order to write this but am teetering on the edge of a total all-fall-down.
Sam is moving to Johannesburg. She is moving here and she is moving in with Matt.
Stormy thinks this is a good thing. She thinks this is the final “straw in the coffin.” She thinks this will be a great catalyst for moving on from him. Only problem, I have no idea how to move on. How do I move on from someone I’ve now been in love with for 2 years? Who also happens to be my best friend? Do I even want to move on . . . of course I don’t! I’m still holding onto the hope that one day he opens his eyes and realizes how perfect we are for each other!!
