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“You’re saying you don’t want to see me hurt again.”
“Among other things, yes.”
“Well, I appreciate it. But I don’t know if I’m going to the lunch or not.”
“You shouldn’t be going with him to the Halloween party. Especially regarding how you two met. But to each their own.”
“He’s a good guy, Katie.”
“He constantly barged into our dorm room like he owned it. He offered, right in front of me, to pay for your own separate apartment so he wouldn’t have to ‘deal with me.’”
“In his defense, you were pretty bitchy to him sometimes,” I said.
“Because he was an asshole!”
“He was never an asshole to me, Katie.”
“Yes, but he was an asshole to everyone else around you. And you did nothing about it then. You didn’t correct him. You didn’t step in. It was like you were scared of pissing him off, so instead of sticking up for those who loved you, you let him walk all over them. Us. Like he got to walk all over you.”
“Brett didn’t walk all over me.”
“He did. You were blind to it because you were in love, but he did. Every time he asked you to jump, you jumped. Every time he thought your school schedule should be changed to be better, you changed it. You danced to his tune without him even having to earn it, and I’m scared you’re going to do that now. I’m scared you’re going to give your spine away to him again and become his little puppet.”
“Wow, Katie. Tell me how you really fucking feel.”
“Fine. I will. I’m your best friend. I love you like my own damn sister. And yet you ran into the arms of a man that broke your heart instead of sending a simple text message to me talking about the first man who ever broke your heart was back. And I think I know why you did that,” she said.
“Then enlighten me,” I said.
“Because you’re looking for a man to fill the void your father left behind.”
I scoffed. “Whatever, Katie.”
“You can whatever me all you want, Olivia. You talk about how you’ve been busy, but I think you’re hiding. You know that what you’re doing is questionable, and you know I’ll call you out on it. So, you’d rather stay ignorant than here a perspective that doesn’t always line up with your own.”
“I’m sorry that you’re hurt that I didn’t tell you about my father sooner. But this is a little petty, don’t you think?” I asked.
Katie set her wineglass down and stood up. “If you think it’s petty, then you don’t understand. And that shouldn’t shock me, since Brett has a way of blinding you like that.”
“Blinding me? You talk as if I’m some kind of misguided 1950s housewife.”
“With Brett? You are. And I hope for your sake you see it before it’s too late. Again.”
“I’ve just been busy, damn it! I’m sorry that I didn’t get to call you and update you on every facet of my existence for the past couple of weeks. But I know you don’t like Brett. So, no. I’m not going to always update you on what’s going on with him and me because, no. I don’t want to hear it. As far as my father goes, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you were working Sunday and that I didn’t call you anyway to rattle off onto your voicemail, which would have done me no good seeing as I was halfway through a damn panic attack at the time. I’m sorry that I didn’t get in touch with you to talk about it until now because I was too busy volleying my conversation with him at dinner through my mother to make sure my biological father wasn’t spouting off bullshit to me.”
“Olivia, that isn’t what I’m—”
“And I’m sorry you’re fucking jealous of Brett because he’s currently getting more of my attention than you are. But can you really blame me? At least he’s a positive reinforcement. Every time any part of my life regarding him comes up, the only thing I get from you is disgust!”
“Because he’s a disgusting man, Olivia!”
“That’s what you think. But it isn’t what I think!”
The wine had been abandoned. The cookies had toppled to the floor. I stood there, toe to toe with my best friend, yelling in my apartment as if we were shouting across a damn flower field. Katie’s eyes roared with anger, then widened with shock. Finally, they shut down into a silent darkness before she stepped away.
“Good luck with the party,” Katie said.
“Don’t do this. Come on, now. We’re supposed to be having wine and catching up,” I said.
“And we’re caught up. Good luck with the Halloween party,” she said.
“I’ll call you after. I’ll tell you all about it, okay?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said flatly.
And the next sound I heard was her closing my apartment door behind her, leaving me standing there wondering what the fuck had just happened.
