DAY 32: Tales Of Secret Meetings And Saviours

Day 32 Of How To Move On From A Man — 1LD

Mar 08, 2023

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As I walked up to GG, I told myself this devious plan was all for a good reason. I wasn’t being a bad friend. I was being a good friend.

At least that’s what James told me.

Before he left 1 Lovelock Drive last night, he left me with a pep talk.

I wasn’t being a bitch.

I was doing the right thing.

Sure, going behind my friend’s back, and treating her with kid gloves, didn’t feel like the right thing.

Yet, what else were we going to do?

The plan started with wording up GG. At spin class this morning, I told her our Thursday meeting was going to be canceled on our group chat.

This wasn’t true. We needed a way to cut Sophia out for the night.

Why? I couldn’t tell GG that yet. James would tell her tonight.

GG agreed. With zero reluctance, by the way. It was like she had done this before.

Faker.

James faked a cough when Sophia called him to see why the meeting was over. Considering everything that had happened in the world, no one risked a cough. Sophia didn’t even question him.

The plan kept working. It was like James had pulled this stunt before.

And as GG sat down at the makeshift desk, my old dining room table, where we normally sat for our weekly meeting, it was like she knew.

“What’s going on Sophia?” she asked, with zero prompting.

James explained the situation, showed her the Tinder account, and we all quickly agreed to tell Sophia tomorrow night. At her place. Together. No questions asked.

The plan was set.

And that’s when it dawned on me as I looked at my friends. The way we were all together discussing how to handle Sophia and how we would break the news.

My friends did this for me.

They rallied around me with intention, not with coincidence as I had thought.

The fact they had gone to these lengths to make sure I was ok felt strangely comforting.

Relief.

I knew other people would disagree. I knew other people would tell me it was manipulative. But instead of throwing one person under the bus, we went into it together. We didn’t allow one person to take on the burden.

The temporary moment of deception wouldn’t matter when the person ailing would see how everyone rallied around them.

When James and GG left, I felt relieved. Perhaps Sophia might be all right when she finds this out. But I didn’t feel like that when my breakup became a reality.

There it was. Douglas was on the mind again. I was asking why again. Why did he break up with me?

DAY 32: Tales Of Secret Meetings And Saviours

Day 32 Of How To Move On From A Man — 1LD

Faker.

Relief.

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