“Yeah, yeah.” Amy patted me on the shoulder. “Oh shit. Gross. Look who’s here.”
I turned and followed her not so subtle finger point, just in time to see my ex, Tim, walking toward me. It’s funny. At one point I thought he had a great smile. Now it was just a creepy smirk.
“Julie. You came!” He attempted to hug me, and I did an awkward dance to get away from him. “Really? That’s how it’s going to be?”
“Yeah, dickhead. That’s how it’s going to be,” Amy said as she stepped in front of me. Amy was shorter than I was, but she was fierce.
“You know, Amy? I haven’t missed you. Not one little bit, but just like always, you have to butt in.” It was obvious Tim had been drinking.
“Like always? Oh please! I had no beef with you until you cheated on my best friend. And to make matters worse, you traded down. You can’t even cheat on Julie with someone of quality. No, you sleep with a little frat whore!”
We were starting to attract a crowd, and Tim tried to laugh it off. “Okay, Amy. Whatever you say.” He tried to pat her on the shoulder.
Amy pushed Tim. “Don’t you ’Amy’ me like we’re friends or something, you ignorant piece of shit.”
Amy was getting worked up, and I searched the crowd desperately for Ben, who had gone to get us drinks. I didn’t see Ben, but I saw Brian watching, and I caught his eye. He must have sensed something because he walked over to us.
“Problem?” He asked, though he directed it to Tim.
“Nope. No problem, buddy.” Tim was using all his skills to keep up at this point.
“Yeah, there’s a problem,” Amy said. “Limp Dick here finds the need to step to me.”
At the mention of Tim’s limp dick, the crowd erupted into laughter. Tim’s face grew red.
Tim started toward Amy. “Bitch—”
Brian got between them. “Hey! That’s no way to talk to a lady.”
“You’re right, but Amy’s no lady.”
I’d had enough. I’m no pushover, but I don’t like being the center of attention—especially like that. “Amy, come on. Let’s just go outside.”
I took her arm and tried to steer her toward the door. I saw Ben out of the corner of my eye and waved him over.
“What’s going on?” He asked.
“Tim.” And that was all I had to say.
Ben and Amy had been together since her sophomore year of college, and Amy and I had been together since second grade. Because of that, Ben was like a big brother to me. He didn’t take kindly to anyone hurting me, and Tim was high on that list.
Ben went to Brian’s side, and Tim, realizing at that point that he was outgunned, should have backed down. But alcohol had gone to Tim’s brain, and he was feeling brave.
He started to laugh. “Oh, that’s cute, Ben. Gotta jump in and save that bitch you’re fucking.”
And then all hell broke loose. Ben hauled off and punched Tim in the face. Tim fell backwards and crashed into a girl that had been watching—making her spill her beer everywhere. She screamed, and her date shoved Tim back into Ben. Ben must have thought Tim was coming after him because he hit him again. Girls started screaming, drinks were spilled, and fists were flying.
“Oh yeah! Limp Dick is getting what he deserves.” Amy was clearly enjoying it.
I shook my head, though a part of me was secretly thrilled that Ben had punched Tim right in his smug face. “He might deserve it, but this isn’t what I wanted.”
Amy immediately looked sorry. “Hey. I know. I’m sorry. I just can’t stand him.”
“Obviously.” I laughed as fists flew around us. “Come on. Get Ben. Let’s get out of here.”
Amy waded into the mass of bodies and grabbed Ben’s arm. She pulled him, and he turned to follow. I heard someone come up next to me, and because of all the noise, I automatically flinched.
“No...” Brian had stepped back and was holding his hands up in surrender. “Hey. I come in peace. Julie, right?”
I laughed nervously. “Sorry. Things got a little crazy.”
“You think?” I felt his hand on my lower back. “Come on. Your friend found Ben. Let’s get out of here.”
Amy had indeed retrieved Ben, and the two of them were coming toward us. Neither of them seemed too concerned about the mess behind them, and though I was glad to see Tim get what he deserved, the whole situation was out of hand.
“I think we should call campus security,” I yelled over the noise to Brian.
He shook his head. “Already done. Let’s get out of here.”
I nodded in agreement, and we made it to the door, just ahead of Amy and Ben.
“Let’s blow this shithole!” Amy said and pulled me outside.
“Amy? Seriously? Why antagonize him?” Ben sounded tired. “You know how he is.”
“I know! I’m sorry, but you know how I get.” Amy had enough wits about her to be embarrassed.
Ben just sighed and laughed. “I know. And I love you for it.” He slipped his arm around Amy and kissed her on the cheek.
“Hey, guys. That was a lot for one night. I think I’m done. So I’m just gonna walk back to our place.” I tried to beg off.
“Are you serious?” Amy scoffed. “We’ve been out for like 45 minutes!”
“Yeah, but that was a serious 45 minutes.” I tried to make light of it.
“I’ll walk Julie back home, so you guys can go ahead.” Brian offered, and then turned to me. “If that’s okay with you?”
“Yeah. If you’re sure? I don’t want you going out of your way. It’s just a short walk this way.”
“My car’s actually down here.” He pointed in the general direction in which we were walking. “So I was going this way anyway.”
That made his offer sound much less gallant, but I would take what I could get. Amy and Ben accepted the decision after a few more minutes of back and forth, so we split up. They headed into town to get something to eat. And Brian and I headed toward the apartment.
* * *
“So,” I began, “thanks for walking me.”
“No problem. What was that back there?” He gestured over his shoulder to the frat house, just as campus security pulled up.
“That was my ex. He cheated on me with some girl, and for some reason Amy decided to call him on it tonight. Plus, I’m pretty sure he was drunk,” I offered by way of explanation.
Brian nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Things got pretty nasty.”
“Amy’s protective. She always has been. We became friends shortly after I lost my mom. My dad kind of didn’t deal with her death really well, and Amy sort of adopted me. We’ve been close ever since.”
“She seems like a good friend. Ben’s in my drafting class, and I’ve talked to him a few times. Nice guy.”
I agreed with him, and we walked in easy silence for a few more minutes. Before I knew it, we were at my apartment building.
“Well, this is me.”
“Oh, this is you...” Brian came back with, and I laughed.
“Thanks again for walking me home. I’ll see you and Sam Monday?”
“Right! Yes. Sam and I Monday. We’ll be there.” He seemed flustered, and we stood there awkwardly for a moment.
“Okay. Well, I’m going to go up.”
“Okay. Have a good night.”
I walked into my building, and if I had just turned around, I would have seen him standing in the same spot, watching me, wishing he would have said something.
* * *
That had to have been his worst moment ever with a girl. He had planned on asking her out, but then she brought up Sam, and he got lost. He watched her climb the stairs in her apartment building, and then turned to go to his car.
Way to go, big guy. Way to go.
* * *
I decided to just make a sandwich for myself and watch a movie on TV. Amy would be out late, if she came home at all. So I would just get comfortable and settle in for the night. I wish he would have asked me out, or I suppose
I could have asked him out—coffee is always non-threatening.
I flipped channels, and Clueless had just started. Why not?
I must have fallen asleep on the couch, because the next morning Amy came in and woke me up.
“Rise and shine, beautiful! It’s going to be a crazy day.” Amy threw open the old curtains we had hung up to cover our sliding glass door.
“Agh! Come on!” I shielded my eyes against the bright sun that came pouring in. “What’s your damage?”
“It’s Saturday,” she offered.
“No shit. Your point?”
“Sat...ur...day. We’re going to Ben’s parents’ place for the weekend. Their going to be out of town. Ring a bell?”
“Oohh. That’s today?” I had forgotten, but I was actually looking forward to getting off campus. Ben’s parents had a beautiful house on a lake about an hour away from the school. “Alright, I’m up.”
I jumped up and went into my room. It didn’t take me long to pack a bag. “I’m all packed. When are we leaving?”
Amy came into my room. “Ben said he would be here in about an hour. He’s going to change the oil in his car.”
“Cool. Okay if I get in the shower?” Even though our apartment had two full baths, hot water seemed to always be an issue.
“Yeah, go ahead. I got cleaned up at Ben’s.”
“I’ll bet you did,” I threw at her.
Amy and Ben’s sex life was legendary among our group of friends. Amy wouldn’t admit it, but I’d known her long enough to know that at the beginning that’s all it was—sex. Ben was a great looking guy. His family had money, and he was fond of spoiling Amy. Though I wouldn’t say my friend was shallow, she enjoyed what Ben offered. And then they got into their first fight.
Ben had wanted Amy to go away with him for the weekend. She didn’t want to go. I couldn’t believe she actually said no. She said that was such a “couple thing” to do, and he blew up.
“Aren’t we a couple?” He asked.
“Well.” I had never seen Amy flustered like that. “I mean... We’re having fun, but we’ve never really talked about it.”
“Jesus Christ! This isn’t high school, Amy. I didn’t realize I was supposed to ask you to go steady.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“Well apparently, I thought this was more serious than you did. It’s been fun.” With that he turned on his heel and slammed out of our apartment.
Personally, I don’t necessarily think he overreacted.
“What the fuck just happened?” Amy screeched.
I came out of my room. She knew I had heard everything. The walls were paper thin.
“Honey,”—I sat next to her, and she put her head on my shoulder—“I kind of think you surprised him.”
“But we never talked about it! We never put a label on what we were doing. Nothing was decided,” she wailed.
“Well, but... I kinda see where he’s coming from.”
That threw her. “Excuse me! You’re siding with him?”
I gave her a look, and she shut her mouth, “Don’t go there with me. But he’s right. You guys spend almost every day together. You sleep together. He buys you things, takes you out... sounds like a relationship to me. Hell, you even bought him a Christmas gift.”
“I bought him silk boxers! It was silly—”
“It was a gift. And didn’t he buy you a crotchless teddy.”
“See? That’s how we are.”
“What’s how you are?” I was prodding her, hoping she would realize what I saw, and what Ben knew.
“You know. We joke around. We have fun. We have great sex.”
“And when your mom got hurt, he’s the one that drove you home to take care of her, right? He’s the one that carried her up and down the stairs in your house. For what? Almost a week? He’s the one you go to when you need help with your school work. He’s the one you ask for advice when I’m not around.”
“He’s my boyfriend.” Amy said in a dazed voice.
And just like that, Amy had realized she was in love with Ben. Ben seemed to have already known this, and after about 10 months, he had gotten tired of waiting for Amy to realize it.
“Let’s be real. 10 months is a long time to not have had ’the talk.’ You really can’t understand why he didn’t think one was needed?” I asked Amy.
“I mean... Yeah, I guess so.”
Amy ran out of the apartment. I can only assume she caught up to Ben, because they have been a known couple ever since. Ben was great for her, and I had never seen my friend happier.
* * *
“Are you almost done?” Amy pounded on the door.
I opened it, wrapped in a towel. “You said an hour?”
“I know. He’s just early.” Amy sat on my bed. “I think he has something planned.”
“Like what?” I asked. I knew what Ben was planning, but I hoped Amy didn’t. She was going to be so surprised!
“I don’t know! But he’s antsy, so hurry up!”
“Fine! Get out and let me get dressed then.” I shooed her away and got dressed.
Just then the phone rang. I figured Amy would answer it, and I was right.
“YO, J! It’s for you,” Amy yelled from the other side of the apartment.
I picked up my phone and told her I had it. I waited until I heard her hang up. “Hello?”
“Umm... Hi, is this Julie Blackfield?”
I didn’t recognize the male voice on the other end. I was cautious. “It is.”
“Umm, you work in the daycare on UVA’s campus, right?”
“I’m sorry, but who is this?”
“Hi, this is Brian Klevan. If this is the Julie that works in the daycare, I’m Sam’s dad. I walked you home last night.” He sounded more sure of himself.
I let out my breath and smiled. “Hi, Brian! Yes, this is Julie.”
“Cool! Joe wasn’t sure of your last name, and there’s also a Julie Blakefield in the phone book—”
“Nope, you found me. What’s up?” I tucked the phone against my shoulder and struggled to get dressed.
“Well, I meant to ask you this last night,” he began, “but I sort of chickened out. Anyway, Sam told me that he thought you were really pretty and that I should ask you out.”
I laughed. “Oh, Sam told you I was pretty, huh? Were those his first words?”
“They were! How did you know?”
I laughed and yanked my shirt over my head. “Lucky guess. So... Was that you asking me out?”
“It was. Not clear enough?” He teased.
“Umm, a little vague. When did you have mind?”
“Tonight? If that’s not too soon.”
SHIT! I would rather go out with this gorgeous man than hang out at the lake with Amy and Ben, but I promised. “I can’t tonight!”
“Oh. Well, if you don’t want to... I understand.” He actually sounded bummed.
I had to laugh. “No! I do. Look. Can you keep a secret?”
“Is it juicy?” He sounded intrigued.
“It is! Can you keep a secret?” I pushed.
“Okay. Cross my heart.”
“Okay.” I lowered my voice. “Ben’s parents are going out of town this weekend, and a few of us are going to their house. Ben’s going to propose to Amy tonight, and he wanted all of our friends to be there.”
“Oohh... Okay! That is a juicy secret. And I understand. Is it too far out to ask you about next weekend?”
I smiled and gave myself an inner high five, but I tried to sound cool. “No! I mean, no, it’s not too far away.”
“Yeah? Great.” He came back with, and then there was silence.
“So... you gonna ask me out?” I prompted.
Laughter ensued. He had a great laugh.
“Got it. Would you like to go have dinner with me? I was thinking we could go to Ozzie’s. Or if you wanted to do casual, we could take Sam out for pizza.”
The idea of seeing him out with his little boy
was tempting, but I also knew that there could be issues if Sam formed attachments easily. “How about we keep the first date just between us and see how things go?”
“So is that a ’yes’?”
“That’s a ‘yes’! Pick me up at 7?”
“7 works! I’ll see you then,” he said with excitement.
“No. You’ll see me Monday when you drop Sam off at daycare,” I reminded him.
“Oh! That’s right. This whole daycare thing is going to take some getting used to!”
* * *
It poured that Monday, and I’ll never forget it. Brian was carrying Sam in his carrier again and was holding his diaper bag in front of Sam. He carried an umbrella over his son and the bag. When he got to the door, Sam and the bag were dry, but Brian’s back was completely soaked.
I’d never seen a more handsome man.
Our first date went great, as did our second. Brian was warm, funny, and he adored his son. I appreciated the fact that he had his priorities in order. He knew that Sam needed him, but he also knew that he couldn’t revolve his life around his little boy.
On our third date—Sam still hadn’t joined us at that point—he told me about his dream of becoming a contractor. He explained to me, passionately, that he wanted to do good work for good people at good prices.
“Homes, small businesses, landscaping. I want to do it all. And I want to be fair. I want to do good... No... great, honest work.”
I loved listening to him talk. He had such drive, such conviction in himself. And on our fourth date, we finally took Sam out for that pizza.
And after that, we were inseparable. Sam often came with us when we went out - the park, shopping, local eateries, etc. He even came with us on our first weekend away together—though it was just up to DC to see the museums and the zoo.
* * *
In July, right before we started our senior year, Brian and I had a falling out. I accused him of acting strangely. He told me I had no idea what I was talking about. Now I chalk it up to PMS, but I told him there was no point in him being with a stupid woman, and I kicked him out of my house.
The next four months were the most miserable of my life. He stopped bringing Sam to daycare and would literally turn in the other direction if he saw me on campus.
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