Was it just a lunch date?

You thought it was just going to be lunch… but here we are, opening the front door to your house. the meal was good, but not great; however, the wine was delicious. You apprehensively open the door, and pause… thinking about asking me to wait outside as you retrieved the book you told me I could borrow, but felt that would be dramatic. What’s the worst that could happen?

This all started with a conversation about This American Life, which morphed into our adolescent opinions of the Confederacy of Dunces, and finally meandered to this years issue of The Best American Non-required Reading. You had 2012’s anthology, and I cleverly took advantage of that to insist that I have to borrow it. So here we are.
Two people, desperate to sit down, after walking all day in Boston.
A chance meeting at a cafe with only one free table…

our impromptu date was a coincidence, but you can not deny the attraction.

Our cabin in the woods.

So we find ourselves here again… The week after the peak season has ended; in the same 4-bedroom cabin, with the 3 same high school friends… plus their spouses.

We’ve been taking these 5 day / 4 night trips for over a decade now. Neither of us are part of the assemblage of longtime associates… both of us being hangers-on, dragged here by our significant others. Admittedly, it’s been easier and easier to get us to come with each year, but we both can think of a few places we would rather be.

I’ve known you going all the way back to when you first started dating your (now) husband. I’ve always like you, in a friendly way. You were always fun, seemingly happy, witty, and smarter than I’ve always felt you should be, considering how beautiful I found you. Sure, we are Facebook friends, and we wish each other the best on annual milestones, but considering that our last 6 FB chats consisted of identical, “Happy Birthday!!!” messages, repeated back on a 12-month cycle, I would consider us acquaintances, more than friends.

But, this year seems different… Tonight seems different.