Girl's Trip

They had to be up at 4am to make their flight.

Strike 1.

The sun rose as their plane made their decent into the city.  She tried to keep up with conversation, the energy and excitement of the trip.

They got into town and she ordered a Rideshare, who promptly called her and asked how many people she had, and said he couldn't accommodate her and she needed to cancel the ride.  The other girls yelled at her as soon as she had told them about it, like the guy had been her fault.

Strike 2.

They got to the hotel, that was of course not ready to check them in yet.  They spent time in the lobby talking about nothing for what seemed like hours.  Her introvert battery was quickly drained.

They decided to go to brunch early, and she decided to see how far she could walk before Mo came to pick her up at noon.  According to her Fitbit, about 17,000 steps later, Mo came to pick her up with his wife and baby, and they headed to their favorite sushi restaurant.

It was the first time meeting his baby, and he reached out for her immediately, which made her feel good.  She needed to make time to go down and visit him, maybe later on in the summertime.

They met up with other friends and had an amazing time eating.  Back at the hotel, the girls had gotten drunk at brunch, and all started to text her that they wanted pizza.  She had just gorged herself on sushi and didn't appreciate that they all started to gang up on her, texting five or six times in a row.  She made a decision to ignore their texts, because otherwise she would end up back at the hotel in a rage.

They were drunk and cranky when she got back, and she left an hour later to go out drinking with Mo.  They laughed, talked, bar hopped, and had a great time.  She missed him so much, and when his wife asked if the schools were better in her town, she said yes without even knowing if they were.  It would be amazing if they moved to where she lived.

Things were getting a little better with him and his wife, and she was glad they seemed to be working things out.  She talked to him about her relationship woes, and they commiserated with more cocktails.

She didn't get to see him the rest of the weekend, and spent much of it on her own exploring her old haunts.  The girls got more and more drunk and belligerent as the weekend wore on, and it was testing her nerves.

Goldie got upset that her PJs had gone missing, but the maids had been in and made the beds, and must have put it with all the other clothes that were lying on the other bed.  When she suggested this she was berated again by the girls for how stupid of an idea that was.

Strike 3.  She was done.

Goldie got upset that she wasn't helping them look.  "They are lost forever." She stated coldly.  Later they of course found it in the exact place they had told them to look.  They responded by calling her sensitive...because that's the best way to make a sensitive person feel better, to call attention to their sensitivity. 

The entire rest of the trip she became cold and unresponsive, just waiting for it all to be over.

Another Bow

The honesty and straightforward conversation between her and Piz had been refreshing.  He was fast becoming the person she most preferred to talk to.  It was so easy, and while he was still with his girlfriend, still safe.

They'd hung out a few times without issue, having great conversation about what the future held for them.  He was kicking around the idea of going on in his schooling and getting a second Masters, but then would still be living with his horrible girlfriend.

They met up one night with plans that just continued to go wrong for them, and ended up at the bar at the base of her building after dinner. 

She dropped their conversation rudely when she realized the bar had a giant blind sheepdog hanging around.  After she was done playing with the dog, they took a couple of seats at the bar and ordered their cocktails. 

"So, I graduate in May...and I've decided to move back to where I'm originally from.  I'm gonna move in with my two best friends again, back to the couch again for now and we are going to find a three bedroom house for all of us while I figure things out."

Damn, another one bites the dust.  She was going to have to go back on the dating scene again, she felt like she was losing them all over the place.

"Have you told your girlfriend yet?"

"....No.  She's going to get so pissed off, it's going to be a huge mess."  She scowled at him.

"Of course it is, she believes that you love her but you are not only going to break up with her, but move out of the state.  That's going to be a lot to deal with at once."

"She's going to yell at me that I didn't tell her that I didn't actually apply for the Masters program.  The application deadline was in February."

"Well, she'll be right.  You didn't tell her.  You need to start owning up to your own cowardice.  We never like to admit that we did the wrong things, but we have to admit it, own up to it.  If you can have sex with the person, then you should be able to talk about anything and everything.  You and I can."

She admitted she was going to miss him and the friendship they had managed to form despite everything.  He admitted that she was one of the only people he could talk to this about, his dad and his friends had little experience or sympathy.  She said she'd always be there for him.

A few days later he said he'd broken up with his girlfriend.  She had lost her mind at first but then calmed down the next day, and everything seemed to be fine.

"I want to see you at least a few more times before I leave" He said.  She said that would be nice, though considerably more dangerous now.