Page 6 of Come Apart
She was a little more proper than me, a little more straight laced, but she was smart and cynical even at that age.
We became fast friends.
She didn't share the classic movie obsession I inherited from my mother, but she understood part of it stemmed just from the love I had for her.
And when Mom passed, she was there for me.
She helped me get through the hell of that time.
She was there through the knockout drag out fights I had with my father.
She was on the other end of the phone when I needed to call someone in the middle of the night.
When the ache in my chest got so bad I felt like it would swallow me whole.
We were so close, I never considered that it would ever be otherwise.
You don't have a whole lot of context at that age.
And that experience definitely tightened our bond even more.
But, like a lot of friends during that time, we ... drifted apart.
We went off to college, had separate experiences.
The phone call every few days turned into every few weeks.
And then tapered off into holiday calls.
Then to nothing.
There wasn't any dramatic break or anything. Life just happened, like it does.
We lived our own lives.
I'd think of her now and then, but that was about it.
Until law school.
By a twist of fate, we ended up going to the same one.
Only, this time, we were both very much adults, with all the corresponding parts.
And the time apart made us see each other differently.
Our friendship turned into more.
Maybe it wasn't the most passionate relationship. I didn't want to tear her clothes off and fuck her every time I saw her like I do with Alyssa.
But it was good.
We were compatible, we had so much in common, so much shared history.
We fit. But then I got her a job at my father's firm.
And my life imploded.
Though I don't know if that quite does it justice.
