Chapter 2 – The Decision
"C?"
I heard Dana ask in the other line while I tried to think about what to say to her. I completely lost my ability to be coherent enough to organize my thought process, let alone speak, after what I had witnessed in Jake's office.
"Are you okay?" The concern is now evident in her voice, as I didn't respond right after speed-dialing her number. "Talk to me, or I'll have you tracked down in five seconds!"
"I'm here, D," I replied, finally getting hold of my senses, my voice coming out hoarse from crying. "Can you pick me up?"
"Why, what's wrong?" She asked, but I could already hear her rummaging through her things, possibly looking for her car keys. "Where are you?"
"I'm in a park downtown. I'll send you the location pin." I said, and I sent her another message with my coordinates. "I just don't think I should drive right now."
It took her a few seconds, and she replied, "I got it. I'll be there in five."
"Thanks. I owe you."
"Are you kidding?" She yelled. "I'm not your best friend for nothing, you dummy! Now sit your ass down and stay put. I'm coming to get you, and whatever this is about, you'll be okay. I promise." She said this before hanging up. "I'm going to kill that motherfucker asshole," Clara heard Dana clearly state on the other end of the line before the line went dead.
Dana knew enough about my relationship with Jake for her to sense without me telling her that Jake was why I was so upset at the moment. There's only one other reason that gets me upset: when I haven't had my morning coffee before starting my day.
True enough, Dana was here a few minutes later. I can only imagine how maniacally and irresponsibly she drove to get to me in less than five minutes. When I stepped into her passenger seat, all my sobs and ugly crying came out with no holds barred. She let me cry my heart out, and even when we reached her block, she rounded three more times slowly upon my silly request before deciding to go down her apartment parking lot basement. I continued to cry harder for a few more minutes in her car, and she just patiently sat there with me, handing me tissues when I had to blow my nose.
Dana and I go way back, even before we were born. My parents and hers were friends too, and when they learned that both her mom and mine were pregnant with baby girls, it became their mission to hang out ever since, and we were born only a few weeks apart; our parents were ecstatic.
It didn't take long for us to become friends, and we have been inseparable ever since, even when, as teenagers, Dana and her parents moved to the next town from ours to be closer to their kin. We still find time to hang out and camp out during the weekends. Growing up around mountains and lakes in the High Peaks Wilderness of upstate New York does a different kind of magic when you're growing up.
We had so much fun hanging out until we went to college and had to be in separate schools. I got a scholarship on the east coast and stayed, visiting my parents every other weekend upstate or whenever possible. In contrast, Dana got a full-ride scholarship at an Ivy League university on the west coast. Our friendship, though, did not dwindle just because of the distance or schedules, and every year we made it a point to see each other on holidays when we had to go home or whenever we could. We called each other regularly, so it felt more comfortable. We had developed other friendships through the years, but my bond with Dana didn't fade. It even strengthened as time went by, despite the distance.
It was such a relief when Dana shared that she'd be working in New York after college to be closer to her parents and siblings. She got an exclusive internship program offer right after graduating, when I got my first job as a publishing house agent. It has been ten years since we started our careers back then, and here we are, in our early thirties, with me sobbing my heart out in her car over a man I now clearly know doesn't deserve me.
Yet that realization didn't do much because it still hurts to get betrayed by someone with whom you had planned to spend the rest of your life.
"Are you ready to talk now?" Dana slowly spoke when I finally calmed down.
I nodded. I didn't know where to start, so I summarized everything in a few sentences.
"I caught Jake fucking his secretary in his office this morning."
That's about it. For some reason, though, I felt this relief from saying the words, and what felt like a heavy burden lifted from my chest that I didn't even realize was there. I stated a fact that can only be the outcome of everything. "It's over between us."
"Oh, C!" she said, reaching for a hug I gladly welcomed. "I'm so sorry you walked in and witnessed that lowly scum's betrayal... but I have to say," she released me from the hug, looked me in the eye, and said, "I'm glad you're breaking up with that pig scumbag because he doesn't deserve you. He's no good, C. Not with you or any other hardworking, loyal, and beautiful goddess like you. Thank goodness you didn't marry him so quickly!"
I cried even more, not because of Jake and this whole mess, but because I know Dana always has my back no matter what, and I am just grateful that I have a friend like her in my life.
"Come on," she motioned as she opened her door, "Let's not pass this moment to get this heartbreak over with some booze and pizza. I have a bottle of tequila stashed somewhere in my apartment, and I think this is the perfect time to open it up!"
For the rest of the afternoon, we consumed a few more bottles of tequila than one and ordered some Chinese takeout before passing out that night. In between those, I still cried a few more times and maybe puked in the bathroom a little too many times. I know in the morning when I wake up, I'll have a splitting headache and a much bigger headache dealing with Jake and all the mess in between. I have to call everyone and tell them the wedding is permanently off. I have to deal with all the cancellations of the other things, too—the wedding cake, the reception reservation, the honeymoon trip, the invitations, and all the other stuff, including the wedding dress. That dress was custom-made, all paid for. Just thinking about what to do with that beautiful wedding dress makes my head spin.
"D?" I asked, slightly slurring.
"What's up, C?" She answered, gulping water into her system, though it looked like she never drank alcohol. Dana never gets drunk, ever. At least, not that I've seen her ever pass out drunk.
"Do you think true and everlasting love is ever real?"
Dana smiled. "I do." She said with a soft yawn, "I do. Look at what our parents have. That's deep and authentic love, C." She sighed and continued,"I've seen it with my own eyes. True love is real. It's out there. We just haven't found it yet." She said, her eyes looking afar and glassy as if remembering something.
"Or maybe it hasn't found us yet," I said, yawning before finally falling asleep. "Well, that stinks."
"Maybe." I heard Dana say this before my world completely went dark.