"I heard what happened. I'm sorry, man." "Thanks." "For what it's worth, everyone noticed how she was acting that night. It was uncomfortable to watch."
"Then why didn't anyone say anything?" "What were we supposed to say? Your girlfriend is being inappropriate? You were there. You saw it yourself."
He had a point. "She left with him, you know," he continued. "After you left, they stayed at the party for another hour, then left together." "I know."
"He drove her home." "No, I mean they left together. Like, made a point of leaving at the same time. Everyone noticed."
That detail sat heavy in my stomach. The performance of it. The public nature of their connection. "Did anything happen after I left? Between them?"
"Not that I saw, but the vibe was definitely there. A few people mentioned it after they left." Great. So I was the talk of the party.
The oblivious boyfriend who didn't see what everyone else saw. Except I had seen it. I just had the audacity to mention it. And she made me feel crazy for it.
Update Five.
Two weeks after the party, I was finally starting to feel normal again. Not good, but functional. Work helped. It kept my mind occupied during the day.
The gym helped too. Physical exhaustion made it easier to sleep. Then I ran into him. The coworker.
At a coffee shop near my apartment. We made eye contact. He looked like he wanted to run. I walked over.
"We should talk," I said. "Look, man, I don't want any trouble." "Sit down." He sat.
I sat across from him. "Did you sleep with her?" "What? No. I swear nothing physical happened."
"But you wanted it to." He didn't deny it. "It's complicated." "No, it's not. She had a boyfriend."
"You knew she had a boyfriend. You pursued her anyway." "She pursued me too," he said defensively. "It wasn't one-sided."
"I'm sure it wasn't. But you're the one who sent that message about, 'We still could find out.' You're the one who encouraged it instead of shutting it down." "I liked her," he said.
"I thought maybe she was unhappy with you. That maybe we had something real." "And now?" He laughed bitterly.
"Now I realize she's a mess. After you guys broke up, she got really intense. Wanted to immediately jump into a relationship with me. Started talking about moving in together, about how we could finally be open about our connection."
"And... and I realized I didn't actually want that. I liked the flirtation, the attention, the fantasy. But the reality? She's exhausting, clingy, dramatic."