Chapter 6 #2
“Oh you know. Work.” Claire stretched and tied her long blonde hair up. “And also, I’ve been dating a hot lawyer.”
“Really?” That’s it, this time Julie was definitely the only one of her friends who would die alone.
“Yes! We met online and she’s not a weirdo. She’s also working in a non-profit. We went on a lot of dates.” Claire was beaming. “She’s also very into art, it’s so nice to go museums with someone else!”
“Hey! We used to go to museums.” Julie said, offended.
“Sorry, I meant, it’s nice to go to the museums with someone you can kiss.”
“Fair enough.”
Lena reappeared and set two pints of Belgian beer on the rough-hewn table. Julie settled into her stool and wrapped her hands around the cold glass.
“What about you?”
Julie shrugged. “You know, the usual. Work. I’m helping Yasmine with her wedding.” She nervously ran a hand in her curly hair. She knew which question Claire was going to ask next.
“What about dating, Julie? Last time I saw you, you’d given up on the apps.”
“I still have.”
“You don’t even have a teeny tiny crush to tell me about so I can be entertained?”
Julie sighed. She did have something to tell Claire. She just couldn’t keep it to herself any more. “I need your advice on something.”
“Is it about a straight girl again?” Claire was unimpressed.
“Yes it is. Wait, don’t make that face. It’s a bit more complicated.”
“I’m all ears.”
“There was this girl I was best friends with back in college.” Julie exhaled, knowing that the beginning of the story already sounded silly.
“I had a huge crush on her and a bit before she left - she was here for a year abroad - we got drunk and kissed. I haven’t spoken to her since and we never talked about this incident either. ”
“Aw. You must’ve been so cute in college. Not that you’re not cute now.”
“I don’t think I’ve changed a lot since college? Anyway, Yasmine hired her catering service for her wedding and she’s going to be there. I have no idea what I should make of it or what I should do about it.”
“Oh god.” Claire put her face in her hands. “The most important rule is to never go after straight women, Julie. I know you guys kissed, but that was college. Everyone kissed everyone! I think I even kissed a lamppost once.”
Julie made a disgusted face. “Gross, Claire. But you’re right. I just feel so stupid about this. It’s just that… it wasn’t just a kiss. It was several kisses. I don’t want to go into details, but we were sharing a bed.”
“Yeah, but it was over ten years ago. Even if it turned out she was bi or gay or whatever else now, there’s a very small chance she even remembers it or thinks about it. If it had changed her life, she would have talked to you, right? And you say you never talked to her again after that?”
“Just exchanged polite messages, but that was it.”
Claire leaned back. The unimpressed look still hadn’t left her face. “I don’t get it, did you try to talk it through with her back then and she shut you off?”
“No. She just acted like nothing had ever happened that night. So I didn’t push it, I didn’t see the point. She was straight and we were both drunk.”
“There’s your answer. She probably thought it was not a big deal, you two being close friends and all.” Claire sighed. “I know it’s tough, but you should leave it behind you. There’s plenty of other fish in the sea! Fish that are very gay and would be very into you!”
This was not the answer Julie wanted to hear, but it was probably the one she needed.
The small unreasonable part of her that still pined after Zoe, still clung to the memory of that one night, needed to be told in a cold hard way.
Claire was right: even if Zoe was into women now, she would find it pretty pathetic if her friend who ignored her after college showed up out of the blue, still having feelings for her.
Even Julie wouldn’t be desperate enough for someone like that, let alone a busy famous person like Zoe who was probably mingling with much more interesting people all the time.
Not to mention that she was engaged to a handsome and successful actor.
“You’re right.” Julie conceded.
“Also, I want to point out that all of this will happen at Yasmine’s wedding.”
“Oh god. I need to not create any drama on her big day. She would disown me.”
Claire leaned forward. “What you need to do, Julie, is to bring a date to the wedding.”
“A date?” Julie blinked. “I feel like this would be adding more drama.”
“Yes but at least, it would look like you moved on. And who knows? Maybe it really would help you move on.”
“How am I supposed to find a date in a little over a month for the wedding? I spend all of my free time planning this wedding already.”
Another unimpressed look from Claire. “I’m sure there are lots of nice women out there who are only looking for fun.
You should try it.” Claire scrutinised Julie.
“Besides, I’ve never understood how you could be so stressed about dating.
Julie, you’re good looking. And more importantly, you look like you can drive, build IKEA furniture and cook dinner.
You look like the one who should be breaking hearts, not the other way around. ”
Again with the breaking of hearts? Julie made a mental note to try the apps to find nicer friends.
Deep down, she knew it was true. She knew her good hair, blue eyes and sharp jawline made her very popular with the ladies on dating apps.
But she had a hard time being casual about it.
She either fell hard for someone or not at all, and everyone else seemed to be somewhere in between and much more relaxed about it.
Julie’s heart kept getting caught in the middle.
She was sick of it, but self-imposed celibacy didn’t seem to be much fun either.
“I guess you’re right. If she shows up with her hunky actor fiance at the wedding and I’m alone, I’m going to be miserable.”
“Shows up with her what?!” Claire screeched, and then stopped herself. “You know what, no, it doesn’t matter. We’re moving past her. You won’t be miserable. We’re going to get you back in the game.” Claire waved her hand, signalling for Julie to take her phone out, which she resignedly did.
There was no point in getting hung up on Zoe. Julie knew it back then and she knew it now. She reinstalled her dating app.