March 22nd, 2008 by Kateastrophe

I’m writing this early this week so I don’t let you guys down yet again.  I don’t yet know who’s hosting this week and will only have a couple of seconds to publish from California, so if you want more soapy tales, I’d suggest checking out Brillig’s site for more information.  I’m on like, episode 7,454 of this saga, so if you want to catch up, hit up my Soap Opera Sunday category button over in my sidebar and you should find all the fun you need.

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After the trip to San Francisco, everything with Matt was fantastic, even though we still weren’t kissing regularly.  For the next month and a half we saw each other every single day, went on amazing, romantic dates and made plans for fun trips together.  He was such a great guy and so much fun to be around.  The lack of kissing didn’t really bother me because he was so affectionate and wonderful.  We did things I swear you only see in movies.  We went to carnivals and held hands on the Ferris Wheel, eating cotton candy and laughing our heads off.  We spent hours talking about religion, politics and every other interesting topic we could come up with.  We would be driving somewhere and get a wild hair to pull off and roll down a grass hill . . . it was truly an amazing summer we shared.

Right about the time I was thinking Matt might be around for a very long time, the world sort of crashed in around me.

One night, very late, after I returned from a date with Matt, I got a phone call from Richard.  This wasn’t unusual, we still spoke every once in a while, but this call was SO very different.  It sounded like he was in a car with a large group of guys, and he was very obviously drunk.  He said hello and asked what I was up to and how I was doing, blah blah blah. He was kind of rambling and then I hear from the background “Dude, just TELL HER.  You’re driving us crazy talking about how much you miss her SO JUST SAY IT.” That was followed by loud bellows of agreement.  Then I heard Richard say, away from the phone “She doesn’t want me back.  I screwed it up.  I’m not going to ruin her life again even if I am in love with her.”

And.then.his.phone.dropped.the.call.

And then I started silently bawling. 

The words I’d been dying to hear since the day I met him had just been said.  Richard, I had learned, was one of those “honest” drunks, who’d say what he really meant while under the influence.  And he’d just said he was in love with me.  And I had finally moved on.

Less than ten minutes later he called back.  It sounded like he’d been dropped off because the background was quiet.  He asked me if I’d heard what he said.  When I said I had we started talking about it.  He told me how much he missed me and how stupid he had been to choose Tiffany over me and how awful the past few months had been.  For the first time ever, I was very harsh with him.  I told him how unfair it was to call me now that I was dating someone seriously and how hurt I’d been by the whole situation.  He just kept apologizing over and over again.  Then I asked him the question even his drunk self couldn’t answer.  I asked him what he wanted from me . . . and he said he didn’t know.

Then I did what I never in a million years thought I would do.  I told Richard he was too late and that I didn’t want him anymore.  I told him we could be friends, but that was it.  Then I told him good-bye and I cried myself to sleep.

I woke up the next morning knowing I had made the right choice and that Matt was the guy I was supposed to be with.  I was confident that, even if we didn’t work out, he was better for me than Richard.  I got a phone call from him around 10:00 that morning.  I answered, so excited to talk to him and plan our day.  His voice sounded funny so I asked him what was wrong. 

“I made a decision this morning.  You’re probably not going to like it very much.  I decided that I’m moving back to San Francisco in three weeks.”

Then I started silently bawling.