My Best Friend’s Brother

I thought that if one day she told this story to anyone, I would be upset, but that doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not going to stay here to hear what Julie will say because I know this story by heart.

…

“Man, I have to surprise Rachel. I know it’s still two months before our anniversary, but I want to propose uniquely, and I’m too anxious to wait all this time.”

Kylie looks at me and says sarcastically:

“Gee, where’s my fun-loving, party-going friend? What have you done with him?”

He takes another swig of beer. He raises his glass, swings it around in the air, and says:

“Look around this bar, look at how many pussycats there are, and you talk to me about proposing?”

I look around, ignore him and continue:

“You know I haven’t gone around picking up people in a long time!”

He holds my shoulder with one hand and, between swigs of beer, tells me: “I know!

“I know, that’s what I miss, having my partying partner again.”

I shrug. He continues:

“But if my best friend is looking to tie himself down for good, why not give him a hand? You can count on me.”

He makes that face when he is thinking of something epic that I know will not end well. But I don’t care, and I just wanted to know if my best friend had my back on this one, and this is one way he admits that he wishes me good luck.

…

That same week I planned everything. I was going to get home early on Friday and leave my apartment with a table ready for dinner for two.

As soon as Friday finally arrived, I got everything ready with some help from Kylie.

I didn’t call Rachel because I wanted to surprise her at home. I even made up that I would be a little late at work.

She would never suspect anything because it was still a month before our second anniversary.

I parked my car in front of her apartment and went up the stairs to the third floor.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

The door was just pushed open, which made it even easier for me to arrive by surprise.

There was silence there, and I knew she was home, so I called her name and no answer.

The door to her room was ajar, so I went that way, and inside I heard a shower running and Rachel’s laughter.

I decided to go there, and I would love to see her showering at that hour.

But as soon as I opened the bathroom door, I found Rachel showering with a guy. A guy I had never seen before in my life.

She came toward me, trying to explain herself, but I asked her not to touch me.

I vaguely remember the following scenes, and I only remember punching the guy. When he pulled himself together, he punched me back, Rachel screaming, trying to separate us, me leaving her house, calling her a slut in the hallway, while she ran after me down the stairs wearing only a bath towel.

After that, I went back to the evenings with Kylie again, and for a while, it worked.

The day Molly picked me up from the airport was exactly one month away, and it was also the day that Rachel and I would have been dating for two years.

I loved that woman, and she betrayed me in the worst possible way. God knows how many times she could have done that.

I had to drink until I forgot who I was, and I did…

…

As soon as I finish getting out of the shower, she is in Julie’s room pointing her finger at me, she isn’t saying anything, but I can feel her anger from here.

I think she is staring at my body for a moment, but it must be just my imagination because she immediately starts asking what I am doing here.

It annoys me. How does Molly think that she can barge in like this without even giving any explanation? So I ask her what she is doing here.

As soon as I answer her question, she starts pointing her finger again, and Julie comes in wanting to know what is happening.

She says while explaining her anger that I ruined her wonderful day with that insufferable guy I find out is now her fiancé.

I don’t like to hear this, he is an idiot, and I already knew that they had gotten engaged because he called her that this morning and that was one of the reasons why I left angrily, asking them to stop laughing so much in front of my door.

But I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that I heard the whole thing, I wanted to ruin that bullshit anyway, and I wanted him to get fucked up sometime.

I’ve seen him do things Molly would hate to know, I’ve been there, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, not even her.

I thought that if one day she told this story to anyone, I would be upset, but that doesn’t matter now. I won’t stay here to hear what Julie will say because I know this story by heart.