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“That’s true.” Pausing, she looks around the room. “Listen, this is heavy. I don’t want to overwhelm you more, so let’s talk about something else. The rest can come when you’re ready.” Brenda isn’t dumb. It’s obvious she picked up on my internal reaction to her last questions.
“Ditto. So what about you? Who is Brenda?”
“Well, I’m five ten, and I like to— just kidding. What do you want to know?”
“You said you have a brother? Younger? Older?”
“Older. And he never lets me forget it. Super overbearing and protective, more so than our own father. But what’s new. Isn’t that what all big brothers do?”
“So I hear.” I chuckle. “His name?”
“Oh shit, yeah, his name is Theo. He actually lives in New York too. He works in tech.”
“No way! Small world. Where in New York?”
“Brooklyn.”
“Seriously? I don’t know a Theo, but that’s not far from me. Doubt we’ve crossed paths though, as there are basically a hundred people per square foot.” We laugh in unison.
“True. Yeah, he hated it here, did damn near anything to get out of this town. We never pinned him for a tech guy, but I guess he found his calling.” She shrugs.
“Hey, we all have hidden talents. And your parents? Your mom is an interior designer. Dad?” I leave this very open-ended. Given my history, I know never to assume that everyone has a whole home, and nothing is more awkward than having to take your own foot out of your mouth.
“Dad is the owner of the car dealership in town. They have been married for thirty years, high school sweethearts. Adorable. But really almost all couples in this town are high school sweethearts—small town rite of passage.”
“Yikes. So you must have someone then?”
Her face drops. “I did. I thought he was going to be the one. But alas, he wasn’t.”
“Was he an idiot? You’re like… the perfect catch.”
“He had a whole-ass family. So yes, an idiot—complete fucking moron.” She takes a swig. Before she continues, the doorbell rings, and I stand to go get the pizza.
“Hold that thought. We are definitely going to talk about that. I mean, if you want!” I holler over my shoulder as I make it to the door. Opening it, I grab the food left on the bench on the front porch and move to the kitchen. Thank God for the glass cabinet doors or I wouldn’t know where the plates are without having to hunt.
“One piece?” I call out.
“Two and some of the cheesy bread!”
I match her portion and head back in, another round of beers under my arm as well. “Okay, can’t leave me on a cliffhanger. What happened? How?”
“We met in Charleston; it’s about an hour away. I was there for a girls’ weekend, and we hit it off. Exchanged numbers, spent weeks texting, FaceTiming when we could, and then he came to visit when work let him. This was about six months of truly falling, and I mean falling hard.
“Then one day at work, I was minding my business, and a woman approached me—his fucking wife. She was livid, showed me pictures of them with their children and told me to stay away.”
I can only imagine. That’s awful. “Oh shit. I’m sorry; that’s brutal. So you just stopped talking to him?”
She chews her pizza, swallows it, then responds, “Yes, but I gave him a piece of my mind. I told him he was garbage, that I hope his dick falls off, and to never call me again.”
I grimace. “I agree. I hope his penis falls off too.”
“He keeps calling, but I ignored him, and when I blocked his call, he just called me from another number.”
“That’s a bit much. When did this all happen?”
Laughing around her next bite, she answers, “It’s been seven days exactly.” She looks down, sadness trying not to take over her face, but I see it crack through a bit. “Not like I’m counting or anything.” Her tone changes, and she laughs it off. I debate asking her about the obvious heartbreak she’s wearing in her heart but decide we aren’t there yet, and from what I can tell of her so far, she wouldn’t be much of an overshare type of person.
“Seriously? So this is fresh. I’m sorry.”
Waving me off, she shrugs. “It’s okay; it doesn’t hurt yet. I’m too mad. I’m sure when that all wears off, I will show up here with beer, ice cream, and a PowerPoint of how I want to destroy his car.”
I like her. Brenda is a breath of fresh air, one I hope to continue to get to know. Moving around all the time, and eventually becoming a recluse, I never really made friends. “I’m down. Listen, thank you so much for tonight. I needed a reprieve, and you’re really kind.”
She reaches over and gently pats my arm. “Anytime, girl. I’m excited to have you here. How about next weekend, you come out with me and my girls? We are just going to Dean’s Bar and Grill. They have live music and beer. Come hang out?”
