The Talk

The Talk

February 27, 2018

Kay had chosen the lively bar because she needed an up-beat noise backdrop to soften the news she had for her friend, Carla.  She also had a personal need to experience a lively atmosphere.  For the last few weeks, she had been experiencing an unsettling anxiousness that was inexplicable.

As she waited on Carla to appear, she reflected on the length of their friendship.  She had always thought of her as a fool, whose life meticulously hung on the coming and goings of a guy who was indeed too much for one woman.  She had known Jake for years and he had always been a player.  She had tried to warn Carla from the beginning when they first met, but she had refused to listen.  He is nothing like my Steve, Kay thought to herself.  However, Carla had prevailed in the relationship,  in spite of Kay’s warnings, saying she loved and understood Jake.  That is, until now, Kay thought to herself, as she grunted out loud in victorious knowledge.  She had the goods on Jake at last, and she recognized her responsibility to let Carla know.

She had discovered quite by accident that Jake had been seeing another woman for the past two years and she had gotten the news from a reliable source.  As she watched the door open and close, in hope of seeing Carla enter, her heart suddenly lurched as she saw her beloved Steve in the doorway.  Her breathing quickened as she rose to make her presence known and then she stopped.  He was with another woman and there was no room for misinterpretation.  He was looking at her, as if she represented the finest in womanhood and there was no mistaking the love in his eyes.  She slumped back in her seat, in a daze from the visual encounter.  Time stopped and suddenly a hand touched her shoulder.  It was Carla spewing apologies for being late.

Kay couldn’t speak.  Tears spurted uncontrollably down her cheeks.  But Carla didn’t notice.  She was busy chattering happily about Jake’s sudden proposal and moving away, while extending her hand to show Kay the engagement ring.