I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. I went and sat beside her on the sofa. "I didn't just up and leave you, Justine. We started out as friends and we will always be friends."
"I don't want to be your friend! How can I be only your friend, after what we shared?" She sprang from her seat and turned to me, wagging her finger as she spoke incoherently and cried loudly. "I gave you all of me and you left me alone!"
I stood up and considered leaving. I loved her dearly. I respected our friendship, but I had a pile of work to do at the office. I didn't have time to spare on this type of stress. If she had been anyone else, once I determined that she was okay, I would have had Henry double back so fast that her head would be spinning. Justine meant something to me, though. She had been my best friend since kindergarten. She defended me when other kids picked on me and cared for me before I understood dividends and assets.
"Justine, stop crying." I hugged her close and whispered in her ear, "I will always be here for you. I love you, girl."
"If you love me, why are you treating me like this?" she asked, looking up at me with a sparkle of hope in her eyes. She tilted her face and I knew she wanted to be kissed.
I gave her what she wanted; a longer than friendly kiss on her lips, and then I kissed her forehead. "I don't want to see you hurt like this. It's just that…" I thought of a way I could tell her I was falling in love with another woman.
"What, Jacob?" she asked as her light eyes began to darken again.
"You know what, go get yourself all dressed up and we are going to go do something fun. Like back in our college days," I said, unable to bring myself to crush her when she was so fragile.
"Like old times," she said seductively moving her body against mine.
"Justine, go get dressed," I said, unwilling to give her false hope.
She shrank away from me and said, "Okay, it won't take me that long to get dressed."
As she pranced to her bedroom, I thought about how we got to this place in our relationship. We grew up at St. Mary's Catholic School together and spent time at sleepovers, family dinners, and parties all through elementary and high school. I consoled her, after she was left standing at the altar by a creep that was supposed to be her soul mate. I stood in the gap that her fiancé, Rick, left wide open.